[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/torque_en_or.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tA 2,500-year-old gold collar belonging to the Vix Treasure archaeological find was stolen Friday in broad daylight from a French museum, according to reports in Le Parisien <\/em>and France 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tThe thieves allegedly entered the Mus\u00e9e du Pays Ch\u00e2tillonnais \u2013 Tr\u00e9sor de Vix in Ch\u00e2tillon-sur-Seine, Burgundy, around 10:30 a.m. on July 24 by paying the admission fee, acting as regular visitors to the museum. Dijon prosecutor Olivier Caracotch said in a statement to Le Parisien<\/em> that the thieves smashed the display case holding the gold collar, called a torque, before fleeing the museum through the main entrance.<\/p>\n \n\tCaracotch added that his office has opened an investigation for organized crime and that the Juridiction interr\u00e9gionale sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9e (JIRS) in Nancy will assist \u201cgiven this classification, the nature of the facts, and the great complexity of the procedure.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tJ\u00e9r\u00e9mie Brigand, the mayor of Ch\u00e2tillon-sur-Seine and president of Communaut\u00e9 de Communes du Pays Ch\u00e2tillonnais, said in a statement, according to Le Parisien<\/em>, that the museum had faced \u201ctwo previous failed nighttime burglary attempts\u201d in the past eight months. The museum said that it had upped its security as a result, spending some \u20ac150,000 ($171,000) on new security cameras, motion detectors, and door detectors, per the France 3 <\/em>report.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cDespite these measures, the perpetrators demonstrated an organization, a speed of execution and a determination that allowed them to carry out their action,\u201d he said in his Le Parisien<\/em> statement, characterizing the theft as an \u201cattack on cultural heritage and the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe told France 3<\/em> that the stolen torque is \u201cpriceless, it\u2019s a unique piece in the world. And beyond the value of the gold, it\u2019s a historical piece of Ch\u00e2tillonnais heritage. And it\u2019s really damaging and regrettable that criminals are attacking the history of the Ch\u00e2tillonnais and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe torque theft recalls the brazen theft at the Louvre in Paris, in which thieves made off with $102 million worth of jewels in less than eight minutes, also in broad daylight. That high-profile theft ultimately caused the museum\u2019s president to resign and expedited the Louvre\u2019s plans to address its dated security systems, which the museum is expected to begin in January 2027. The Louvre\u2019s Apollo Gallery, where the stolen crown jewels had been on display, reopened this week without the jewels, which are still missing.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Louvre heist led to several other museums across France facing similar thefts. Earlier this month, thieves targeted another French museum, stealing some $4.57 million worth of jewels from the Lalique Museum in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Vix Treasure was discovered in 1953 at the foot of Mont Lassois, near the village of Vix, or about 4 miles north of Ch\u00e2tillon-sur-Seine, where the museum is located, according to its website. The heart of the findings was the tomb of a woman, called the \u201cDame of Vix\u201d (Princess of Vix), who is believed to have been buried between 470 and 460 BCE.<\/p>\n \n\tThe tomb was filled with precious objects, including the golden torque, which is made of 24-karat gold, weighs just over a pound, and dates to the 6th century BCE; the Vix Krater, which includes a depiction of Medusa and was produced around 530 BCE in the Greek colony of Sybaris in southern Italy and it is unknown how it came to Vix; and the Silver Phiale, likely a ceremonial item that is the \u201coldest silver vase discovered north of the Alps.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe golden torque is of a Celtic design in the shape of an arc \u201cwith its two ends resting on a lion paw that is positioned on hollow spheres,\u201d per the museum, which notes that it was a symbol of power. Atop each lion paw is a depiction of the winged horse Pegasus, representing the Greek influence on the region during the era. That influence is juxtaposed with Celtic imagery of \u201ctwo pear-shaped balls [that] symbolize the sun.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tInitially, the torque was discovered on the princess\u2019s skull and believed to be a diadem, but further research confirmed that it was \u201cworn around the neck, like a necklace, by a member of the aristocracy. Its placement in the tomb likely resulted from the tomb\u2019s collapse shortly after the burial,\u201d per the museum. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe museum adds, \u201cThrough its iconographic elements and method of manufacture, the torque reflects a blend of cultures and a transfer of technology, illustrating the vibrant trade in Europe at the end of the First Iron Age.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/thieves-snatch-2500-year-old-celtic-gold-torque-france-1234793494\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/torque_en_or.jpg?w=1024″] A 2,500-year-old gold collar belonging to the Vix Treasure archaeological find was stolen Friday in broad daylight from a French museum, according to reports in Le Parisien and France 3. The thieves allegedly entered the Mus\u00e9e du Pays Ch\u00e2tillonnais \u2013 Tr\u00e9sor de Vix in Ch\u00e2tillon-sur-Seine, Burgundy, around 10:30 a.m. on July 24 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2061815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2061815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2061815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2061815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2061815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}