A major water leak in the Louvre’s Egyptology department has damaged about 400 rare books, some of which date back hundreds of years. The incident was caused by a malfunctioning valve in a pipe above a book storage area, causing gallons of “dirty water” to drench the books and soak the carpet so thoroughly that it dripped through to a lower floor, narrowly avoiding an electrical cabinet and creating a potential fire risk. The malfunctioning pipe had reportedly been a known problem for years, with staff warning it could cause severe damage to exhibits and reference materials. Requests to move the library to a safer area had been repeatedly denied. Francis Steinbock, the museum’s deputy director, told French media that no “precious books” were affected by the flood, and the waterlogged volumes were being rebound and dried page by page. “No heritage artifacts have been affected by this damage,” he added. The spillage is the third major issue to rock the world’s most-visited museum in as many months, after a gang of thieves stole crown jewels worth over $100 million in an audacious daytime heist in October. The heist was followed by the closure of an exhibit on ancient Greek vases weeks later over structural safety concerns. A report published in October criticized the Louvre for its excessive spending on artwork, which it claimed was “to the detriment of the maintenance and renovation of buildings.”
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