Overview
- Officials say a Nov. 26 leak in the Mollien wing soaked 300–400 Egyptology journals and research volumes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with no artworks affected.
- The museum attributes the leak to an accidentally opened valve in a long‑obsolete heating and ventilation network that has been shut down and is slated for replacement starting September 2026.
- Staff are drying pages and sending items to binders for repair before returning them to shelves, and an internal investigation into the failure is underway.
- The Louvre maintains there are no definitive irreparable losses at this stage, while La Tribune de l’Art and union representatives contend some bindings may be beyond repair and long‑requested upgrades were ignored.
- The leak follows an October jewel heist and a November gallery closure for structural issues, as management moves to raise most non‑EU ticket prices to €32 in 2026 to fund upgrades and workers plan a Dec. 15 strike.