On this day, Sept. 11, in 1792, the Blue Diamond of the Crown of France, eventually cut to be the Hope Diamond, was stolen along with other French crown jewels. While King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were confined in the Palais des Tuileries during the French Revolution, bandits broke into the Royal Storehouse and stole most of the crown jewels.
The French Blue disappeared from history. The Hope Diamond was cut down to 45.52 carats and first appeared several decades later.
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The Hope Diamond currently resides at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on the National Mall.
It has been described as the “most famous diamond in the world” and, after the Mona Lisa, it is the second most-visited artwork in the world.
-Scott McCabe
