Louvre flooding damages hundreds historic Egyptian books
Water from a burst pipe damaged between 300 and 400 books in the Egyptian Antiquities department of the Louvre museum, officials confirmed Sunday.
Tightened security measures following the shocking theft of the French crown jewels in October were no match for floods that caused a burst pipe and a water leak in the department’s library section, located in the Mollien wing of the museum, German magazine DW reported.
“We have recorded between 300 and 400 works [damaged]”, declared to BFM-TV the deputy general administrator of the Louvre, Francis Steinbock. “The complete count is underway.”
The works date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Steinbock said, describing them as “extremely useful but by no means unique,” which DW said appeared to be an attempt to downplay their seriousness. Steinbock said the leak was discovered on November 26.
The damaged works include archeology periodicals and journals regularly consulted by Egyptologists, Louvre staff and researchers, Steinbock told NBC News.
“No heritage objects were affected by this damage,” Steinbock said, according to DW. “At this stage, we do not have any irreparable and permanent losses in these collections.”
Damaged books would be “dried, sent to a bookbinder for restoration, then put back on the shelves,” he added.
French online magazine La Tribune de l’Art painted a different picture, saying the “dirty water” leak had damaged the antique bindings enough that some were beyond repair. The flood also affected the offices, rendering them unusable for the moment, until the next floor, where the water came into contact with an electrical cabinet, thus risking causing a fire, the media reported.
The Art Tribune reports that staff had requested funds from Steinbock to protect the books from leaks, with pipes located in the ceiling above them. Steinbock told NBC News that the pipe was located in one of the areas of the museum where a major renovation of the ventilation and heating system was planned starting next September.
