Theft at the Louvre and precedents: in 1911 the Mona Lisa stolen and hidden under a coat

For some, it was the "heist of the century": seven minutes to take away priceless jewellery. In an acrobatic assault on the Louvre in Paris, thieves entered the museum before it opened in a matter of minutes and managed to steal undisturbed nine of the twenty-three jewels in Empress Eugénie's collection, which are priceless, all via a freight elevator wearing workmen's harnesses.

The Parisian public prosecutor's office is working on two hypotheses: theft for hire or money laundering. The robbery, for which a state summit has been convened to secure the museum, is not an isolated incident. Museum theft is not just the fictional plot of films. In the past, other episodes have occurred between the Louvre and other museums.

In recent months, several major museum thefts have been recorded in France. In September, gold bars to the value of USD 700,000 were stolen from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and in Limoges, a collection of porcelain worth around USD 7 million was burgled.

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa had been stolen, later to be found in Florence two years later. It was the night between 21 and 22 August when a man, a painter from Dumenza in the province of Varese, dressed as a worker, stole the painting in a few moments and slipped it under his coat before disappearing. He was convinced - wrongly - that the painting had been stolen by Napoleon and determined to 'bring it back to Italy'.

The last recorded theft at the Louvre dates back to 1998. It was on the afternoon of 3 May when a thief broke into a glass security case in which an 80x40 centimetre painting by Camille Corot was on display. Checks were unsuccessful. The work 'Le Chemin de Sèvres' from 1858 had disappeared. The painting, which has still not been found, is worth around $1.3 million.