How a Naples museum protects its treasures with forensic mapping

With the art world on high alert for any sign of the missing Louvre jewels, one Italian collection says its method of creating a photographic fingerprint of its own priceless gems and artifacts could make them harder to break apart and sell on.

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A team of gemology experts has spent more than a decade studying the most valuable pieces of the collection at Naples’ Tesoro di San Gennaro. Using microscopes and specialized equipment, the team has photographed more than 10,000 stones.

As well as the armed security and alarmed displays that provide physical protection for the site, the process has allowed them to certify the unique characteristics of the gems to provide a kind of forensic fingerprint that experts liken to DNA.

Major European museums have declined to comment on their security protocols in the wake of the Louvre theft, but the Naples method offers a rare insight into some of the measures used by institutions.

LOUVRE DIRECTOR HAD WARNED ABOUT SECURITY