An audacious and brazen daylight robbery at Paris’s Louvre Museum that took place on Sunday 19 October is the inspiration for this week’s #coloricombo colour prompt.
Not unlike the Great Train Robbery, this will be in the news for a long time to come but here’s what’s known at this point. Three or four thieves broke into the museum around 9.30am by parking a vehicle mounted ladder close to the Seine, climbing up to the first floor then breaking through the windows.
Once inside they headed to the Galerie d’Appolon which houses the French Crown Jewels and, dressed in high visibility jackets, proceeded to smash in two display cabinets before escaping on scooters with eight pieces including an emerald and diamond necklace given by Napoleon to his wife, the Empress Eugénie. The entire robbery took between four and seven minutes.
Fortunately a crown worn by the Empress was found dropped and damaged near to the museum. On it’s own it contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds!
The Crown Jewels were worn by the kings and queens of France between 752 and 1789, when the Revolution put a stop to all of that. They were later used by Napoleon after he had declared himself Emperor and then briefly by King Louis Philippe, the Citizen King, before the 1848 Revolution and the Second Republic. By 1885, the majority of the jewels had been sold by the Third Republic who declared ‘Without a crown, no need for a king’.
What remained was split between museums with the Louvre displaying the majority of the priceless collection. As of today, it’s believed that eight pieces were stolen.
Here’s the Wikipedia page about the robbery that I’m sure will be kept up to date as the days and weeks go by.
Find out more about the sapphire parure and it’s (relatively recent) history here.
‘Crown jewels of Queen Maria-Amelia’, sapphire, diamond and gold, unknown jeweller, early 19th century
Colour Combination
The colours this week are sapphire blue, periwinkle, putty and navy blue. Use the colours along with a contrasting dark and neutral light colour if you wish. Create an artwork in any medium or style. Please share this post with someone who likes colour and might like this weekly dollop of colour and creativity.
I love seeing what you create with the prompts. If you’re posting on Instagram, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod and join us in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts.
Dive into Blues
Like the colour blue? You’ll love this thirty minute masterclass, Beautiful Blues, where I dive into the medium of aquarelle crayons and pencils and the colour blue.
Read all about it here and use the coupon code COLORIBLUE15 for a 15% discount off the listed price of £27 (so £22.95, around $31 or €26).