Armed robbers made off with millions worth of jewels from a work by famed Parisian goldsmith Joseph Chaumet, in a heist at a French museum.
The robbers arrived on motorbikes at the Hiéron museum in Paray-le-Monial, central France, at around 4pm. local time on Thursday. Three entered the building and one stood guard outside, said the local mayor, Jean-Marc Nesme.
According to the Guardian, the group fired several times and then headed for the museum’s top exhibita 3m work made in 1904 depicting the life of Christ in precious metals, jewels and ivory.
Known as Via Vitae, it has been designated a national treasure by France’s culture ministry, with an estimated value of up to 7 million euros, Nesme said. The gigantic work consists of 138 figures encrusted with diamonds and rubies set in marble of various shades and alabaster.
Life of Life
The Guardian
The attackers used a power tool to saw through the armored glass protecting the work and took the gold and ivory figures as well as the emerald ornaments.
As they fled, the gang planted nails on the road to block two pursuing vehicles, police said.
Nesme said: “This is a great loss for Paray-le-Monial and for national heritage.” He said staff and about 20 visitors who were on the ground floor of the museum had been “traumatized” by the violent break-in.
The Hiéron Museum, one of the oldest in France for sacred art, has again been the target of thieves. Two gold crowns were stolen in 2017, and there was an attempted robbery in 2022.
Many valuable objects, including elaborate snuff boxes, were stolen from a central Paris museum on Wednesday. Thieves broke through a display case of axes and baseball bats in front of visitors and staff in broad daylight at the Cognacq-Jay Museum.
