The devastating blow to the Louvre Museum came not just with the smash of a break-in but with the steady drip of water that went largely unnoticed until it damaged hundreds of volumes in one of the museum’s most studied collections. Just weeks after a high-profile jewel theft that embarrassed the world-renowned institution, the museum has now been faced with another crisis that exposes issues with long-standing infrastructure that, according to several of its staff, had been ignored for years.
Museum officials have confirmed that the leak struck the library of the Egyptian antiquities department, soaking shelves that hold research volumes that have been frequently used by scholars. According to Francis Steinbock, the Louvre’s deputy administrator, between 300 and 400 books were affected. Although the works were described as “Egyptology journals” and “scientific documentation from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he stressed that none were considered rare or irreplaceable. Still, they are essential reference materials for researchers, and the scale of the damage is significant.
The leak was discovered in late November, but its cause was not a surprise. Steinbock acknowledged that the faulty pipe responsible for the incident has been known to need repair. Work has been scheduled for next year, though reports predict that the timeline could extend to September 2026. A bookbinder will now carefully dry the damaged volumes before sending them for restoration.
Specialist publication La Tribune de l’Art reported that roughly 400 books could ultimately be counted among the damaged, citing deteriorating pipe conditions and repeated, unsuccessful requests for funding to better protect the library. Staff representatives reportedly echoed these concerns, noting that they have long warned that the museum’s infrastructure issues were growing too serious to ignore.
The leak is the third major problem to hit the Louvre in recent months. In November, structural weakness forced the partial closure of the Campana Gallery, a wing that houses a celebrated selection of ancient Greek ceramics. The closure occurred shortly after the October heist where thieves made off with jewels valued at more than €88 million. During the brazen theft, the burglars reportedly accessed the first floor with a furniture lift and smashed display cases with an ankle grinder, all in broad daylight when the museum was open.
The audacity of the theft brought much scrutiny to the museum’s security measures. Several reports point out an employee revealing that the main password for the security system was simply “Louvre.” Authorities have made several arrests in connection with the heist, but they have not yet recovered any of the jewels. In the aftermath, the museum transferred some of its most valuable pieces, including parts of the French Crown Jewels, to the Bank of France for safekeeping.
For the world’s most visited museum, which welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year, the combination of a destructive leak, a multimillion-euro theft, and structural concerns paints a troubling picture. A recent report from France’s Cour des Comptes, the nation’s public audit office, criticised the museum for what it described as new artwork acquisitions at the expense of the building’s maintenance and renovation.
Despite the scale of the leak, Steinbock insisted that “no heritage artefacts” were harmed and that no irreparable losses have been reported. Still, the museum’s Committee for Hygiene, Safety and Working Conditions described the incident as a “flood of dirty water,” raising questions about how close the damage came to endangering more valuable items in the department.
With major repairs still months, or even years away, the Louvre faces mounting pressure to accelerate its maintenance plans and restore public confidence. In the meantime, the staff is drying pages, cataloguing damage, and reinforcing areas at risk of future leaks. The jewel heist may have captured the world’s attention, but this latest incident shows that the museum’s greatest threat may be the slow erosion of its own infrastructure.
