Buenos Aires, February 25 (NA)–Art historian Christophe Leribault, 62 and president of the Palace of Versailles, was appointed this Wednesday to head the Louvre Museum, replacing Laurence des Cars, who resigned after months of institutional crisis triggered by the spectacular theft of French Crown jewels last October. The appointment was officialized during the weekly Council of Ministers meeting and confirmed by government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, who highlighted that the new head will have to face 'important challenges' at the helm of the world's most visited art gallery. According to the Executive, Leribault's priorities will be to reinforce the security of the building, the collections, and the visitors, restore a climate of internal and external trust, and carry out the ambitious modernization plan 'Louvre–Nouvelle Renaissance', announced at the beginning of 2025 following des Cars' warnings about the 'alarming obsolescence' of the facilities. The change of leadership comes after des Cars submitted her resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron, who accepted it and entrusted her with a future mission to promote cooperation between the major museums of the G7 countries, within the framework of the French presidency of the group. The crisis that precipitated des Cars' departure erupted on October 19, 2025, when a group of thieves burst into the museum in broad daylight with the help of a forklift and escaped in less than eight minutes with several Crown jewels, valued at over 100 million dollars. The pieces have not yet been recovered, despite the arrest of several suspects. The episode exposed serious security deficiencies and opened a period of turmoil for the institution, which in the following months faced floods, room closures due to beam fragility, a water leak that damaged works in the library of Egyptian antiquities, strikes, and an investigation into a ticket and tourist guide fraud scheme. Leribault arrives at the Louvre after presiding over the Palace of Versailles since 2024, where he promoted the diversification of exhibitions, improved the visitor experience, and incorporated artificial intelligence tools for management and cultural mediation. In 2025, Versailles reached 8.4 million visitors. His career, which began in 1989, includes positions at the Carnavalet Museum, the Eugène Delacroix Museum, and the Louvre itself, within the department of graphic arts. Before taking over at Versailles, he directed the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie. In parallel to his appointment, the government appointed Annick Lemoine to head Orsay and the Orangerie, grouped into the same public institution. With nearly nine million visitors annually, the Louvre thus seeks to open a new chapter after one of the biggest crises in its recent history, with the objective of recovering its image and guaranteeing the protection of a heritage considered among the most valuable in the world.
