In France, a bronze cover of Dalí's *Book of the Apocalypse* was stolen from a museum
A bronze cover for Joseph Foré’s *Book of the Apocalypse*, created by the renowned Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, was stolen from a museum in the French city of Issouar. The police are currently unable to explain how the thieves managed to carry such a heavy object out of the museum unnoticed.
The bronze cover weighs about 150 kilograms, while the entire book weighs approximately 210 kilograms.
“The Book of the Apocalypse” was created in 1960 and is based on the Book of Revelation by John the Theologian.
Fourteen artists and writers worked on this unique edition, including Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, and Jean Giono.
The book consists of 150 large sheets of sheepskin. The text is handwritten, and 550 letters are rendered in gold.
A particularly valuable part of the edition was the bronze cover, which was adorned with gold and precious stones.
At the time of its creation, “The Book of the Apocalypse” was considered the heaviest and most expensive book in the world. Its value was estimated at two million francs.
Between 1961 and 1972, the “Book of the Apocalypse” was displayed at nearly 150 exhibitions in various countries around the world.
Later, this unique edition was kept in Switzerland.
In 2003, French collector Christian Karoutzos purchased the book from its Japanese owners, who had planned to sell it in parts.
After that, the “Book of the Apocalypse” ended up in France and has been on display in Issy-les-Moulineaux ever since.
Now, this museum artifact has become the subject of an investigation: police are trying to determine the circumstances surrounding the theft of the 150-kilogram bronze cover and figure out how the criminals managed to remove it unnoticed.
Le Figaro reports on this.
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