Embattled Louvre Director Laurence des Cars Resigns
21Feb. 25, 2026
Laurence des Carstoday relinquished her role as director of theLouvre. Des Cars had led the Paris institution since 2021. She had tendered her resignation last year, shortly after thebroad-daylight theft of $102 million worth of crown jewelsfrom the museum, but President Emmanuel Macron, who had named her to the post, refused to accept it. This time, he did.
“Ms. Laurence des Cars has submitted to the President of the Republic her letter of resignation from the presidency of theLouvreMuseum,” said Macron’s office in a brief statement. “The head of state accepted it, welcoming an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to carry out major security and modernization projects and the ‘Louvre–New Renaissance’ project.”
Des Cars was appointed director of the museum in 2019, becoming the first woman to lead the storied institution since its 1793 founding, and setting into motion a plan to upgrade it. Known as Louvre—New Renaissance, the scheme aimed to address overcrowding issues at the world’s most visited museum by adding a new entrance and building a separate chamber for the Mona Lisa, its most famous work. In the past year, however, the insititution was rocked by the jewel theft as well as by a series of strikes staged by workers alleging execrable working conditions, including poorly maintained galleries. Last week, it was discovered that the Louvre had potentially lost $12 million in a ticketing scam, and just days ago, activists hung the arrest photo of Andrew Windsor-Mountbatten, the disgraced former British prince, in one of its galleries, where it remained on view for fifteen minutes.
“Through both hardship and success, directing the Louvre has been the honor of my professional life,” said Des Cars in a statement. “I have devoted all my energy and determination to it. Not a single minute of my time has been wasted in service to the Louvre.”