The dangerous information simply retains coming for the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum.
Simply weeks after 4 burglars took benefit of lax safety – together with the truth that the museum’s video surveillance system’s password was ‘Louvre’ – and escaped with jewels price US$102 million, a water leak final month broken almost 400 uncommon books within the Egyptian antiquities division.
Final month, structural weaknesses prompted the partial closure of one of many galleries internet hosting Greek vases and places of work.
France’s public audit physique, often known as the Cour des Comptes, printed a report in October which mentioned the museum’s lack of ability to replace its infrastructure was exacerbated by extreme spending on art work.
Specialist web site La Tribune de l’Artwork reported that round 400 uncommon books had been affected, due to poor pipe circumstances. It mentioned the division had lengthy sought funds to guard the gathering from such dangers with out success.
Le Louvre’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, acknowledged to BFM TV on Sunday that the issue had been recognized for years and that the water pipe leak occurred at one of many three rooms of the library of the Egyptian antiquities division.
“Now we have recognized between 300 and 400 works, the depend is ongoing,” he mentioned, including that the broken objects date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and are “extraordinarily helpful” however are “not at all distinctive”.
“No heritage artefacts have been affected by this injury,” Steinbeck advised AFP and added that “at this stage, we have now no irreparable and definitive losses in these collections”.
