A week after thieves stormed the Louvre and ripped eight priceless pieces from France’s Crown Jewels, the country is nursing a deep cultural wound. Yet a paradox cuts through the grief. With the Apollo Gallery’s vitrines standing empty, some experts believe the scandal could bring greater celebrity to the stolen jewels and the pieces left behind. In 1911, a museum handyman lifted Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” off its hook. The disappearance went unnoticed for more than 24 hours; newspapers turned it into a global mystery, and crowds came to stare at the blank space. When the portrait returned two years later, its fame eclipsed every other work in the museum. That uneasy precedent now shadows the Apollo Gallery.
