The Louvre: World's most-visited art gallery and stage for host of record-breaking crimes

The Louvre is no stranger to media and pop culture attention, especially following the jewel heist that happened last year.  

According to the Global Attractions Attendance Report, the Louvre in Paris, France welcomed 8,737,000 visitors in 2024. That's roughly the population of Sweden. These visitors earned the Louvre the Guinness World Records title of most visited art gallery (current). 

Since 2012, when this record title was created, the Louvre has continually held on to it.

Sure enough, hosting the most guests is not the only title The Louvre holds.

The museum began its record-breaking journey as early as 1793 when the government following the French Revolution decided to open the Louvre Palace as a museum. The Louvre said: “It symbolized the shift from royal exclusivity to public access to art.”  This shift earned it the title of largest palace used as a museum.

Famously, one of the most renowned works of Leonardo da Vinci is housed in the museum. The Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) broke the record for highest insurance valuation for a painting after it was assessed at $100 million.

Today, high security surrounds the exhibit and people going to see it in real life can’t get close enough to touch it, but it was actually once stolen.

On 21 August 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia (Italy) successfully stole the Mona Lisa and held on to it for two years before it was recovered in Italy. The famous recent robbery could not compete with Peruggia’s schemes because the Mona Lisa still holds the record for most valuable object stolen.

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Home to some of the most regal and lavish art, the Louvre has unfortunately attracted a lot of criminal activity over the years. 

The museum is also the setting for the greatest goldsmith fraud. In 1896, the museum purchased a gold helmet for 200,000 gold French francs. It was believed to be a gift to the Scythian king Saitaphernes from the late 3rd or 2nd century BC. Unfortunately, the helmet was revealed to be a fake, made by a Russian goldsmith.

Since its start in 1793, good or bad, the Louvre continues to break records and attract more visitors than any other gallery in the world. It seems like the world better get used to seeing that iconic architecture and glass pyramid as it will not be leaving the news anytime soon. 

Header image: Photo by Jorge Martínez, instagram @jormtz9 on Unsplash