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Another theft in the art world: the “Book of the Apocalypse”, described as one of the most expensive (and heaviest) books in the world, was stolen from a private museum in Issoire, in Auvergne, overnight from Sunday to Monday, the Clermont-Ferrand public prosecutor’s office has said.
The original and unique copy of this book, conceived by the Auvergne publisher Joseph Forêt, was designed as a total work of art inspired by the Apocalypse of Saint John.
Weighing 210 kilos in total, this work made up of 150 parchments was produced between 1958 and 1961 by seven leading writers and seven leading painters of the time, among them Ossip Zadkine, Léonard Foujita, Jean Cocteau and Jean Giono. Salvador Dalí, for his part, sculpted the cover using the lost-wax casting technique.
A work that has travelled the world
After being shown in nearly 150 exhibitions around the globe between 1961 and 1972, the book disappeared from view for several years. Stored in Switzerland, it was eventually sold to Japanese collectors.
As they were preparing to auction it off, piece by piece, it was bought in 2003 by Christian Karoutzos, CEO of an art restoration company in Issoire. He decided to display the cover and several parchments in his contemporary art centre in the town until the autumn.
“It is a cathedral-like work, a masterpiece, unique in the world”, the new owner lamented to ICI Pays d’Auvergne after the theft, adding that”France was murdered last night, French heritage was murdered”.
“This was a privately owned work kept in a small private contemporary art museum that also housed other, less valuable pieces”, said Issoire’s mayor, Bertrand Barraud. He stressed that the loss was “incalculable” and that it was “the work of a lifetime”.
An investigation has been opened by the Clermont-Ferrand gendarmerie’s research unit. The work is estimated to be worth several million euros.
This theft recalls the events at the Louvre on 19 October 2025, when thieves managed to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros_._