CULTURE
19th century jewel-encrusted crown stolen from French museum
2017-05-14 10:20 GMT+8
8322km to Beijing
Editor
Xie Zhenqi
A 19th century crown, encrusted with almost 1,800 gem stones, has been stolen from a museum of religious art in central France, the museum authorities said Saturday.
The thieves broke in overnight Friday and managed to overcome the "sophisticated security system" at the Museum of Fourviere in the city of Lyon, the museum said in a statement.
They got away with the Crown of the Virgin, the centerpiece of the museum's collection, which was created in 1899 with 1,791 precious stones and pearls gifted by well-to-do Lyonese families of the day.
The value of the piece was put at "a little over a million euros".
This file photo taken on March 20, 2014 shows people looking at relics and reliquaries during an exhibition at the Museum of religious art in the Fourviere Basilica in Lyon, southeastern France. /VCG Photo
Each gemstone was painstakingly logged last year by a team of researchers, the museum said, a fact that will help trace each part of it.
The robbers got away with two other pieces from the museum's permanent collection, a ring and a chalice.
The museum displays treasures from the basilica which are representative of the work of goldsmiths in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
(Source: AFP)
8322km
Copyright © 2017
SHARE
- EXPLORE
- MORE
FOLLOW US
