Overview
- Museum officials said 300 to 400 Egyptology journals and research documents from the late 19th to early 20th centuries were soaked, with no unique heritage artefacts affected and no irreparable losses acknowledged so far.
- The leak originated when a valve was mistakenly opened in a shut-down heating and ventilation line above the Mollien wing library, prompting a formal inquiry into how the failure occurred.
- Conservators began drying the volumes and plan to send them to bookbinders for restoration before returning them to the shelves, with counting and condition assessments still underway.
- La Tribune de l’Art and staff unions disputed the museum’s assessment, alleging some bindings are beyond repair and that management had long been warned about deteriorating pipes.
- The incident compounds pressure after an October jewel heist and a November gallery closure, as the Louvre raises most non-EU ticket prices 45% to €32 to fund upgrades ahead of wider system replacements starting in September 2026.