With its 210 kilos, its 150 parchments and its spectacular bronze cover designed by Salvador Dalí, The Apocalypse of Saint John was presented until this fall in the small private contemporary art center created by Christian Karoutzos in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme). During the night of Sunday October 4 to Monday October 5, part of this unique book-object was stolen.
The Clermont-Ferrand public prosecutor’s office, which qualifies the work as “exceptional and unique piece”entrusted the investigation to the research brigade of the Clermont-Ferrand gendarmerie. The precise circumstances of the theft remain unknown: the mayor of Issoire, Bertrand Barraud, was not able on Monday to specify whether the thieves had broken into the building.
Uncertainty also remains over the exact extent of the theft. Several initial reports reported the theft of the entire book, which weighs 210 kilos. But the press release from the prosecution refers more precisely to “the case of the Book of Revelation” or its bronze cover. The Issoire exhibition only presented this “cover” and some of the parchments of the work.
The object is unusual. It was in 1958 that the Auvergne publisher Joseph Forêt undertook to create around The Apocalypse of Saint John a “monument book” in a unique copy. It brings together seven artists – Dalí, Bernard Buffet, Foujita, Leonor Fini, Georges Mathieu, Pierre-Yves Trémois and Ossip Zadkine – and seven writers, including Jean Cocteau, Jean Giono, Cioran, Ernst Jünger and Jean Rostand. The number seven refers directly to the structure of the biblical text, punctuated in particular by the seven Churches, the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The text of Saint John is calligraphed by Micheline Nicolas: some 93,000 to 95,000 letters traced by hand on approximately 150 parchments. Writers contribute autograph texts and artists original works.
But the most spectacular part is the cover given to Dalí. Made in bronze using the lost wax process, it weighs approximately 150 kilos. Dalí incorporates a truly surrealist assemblage: shells, nails, gold knives and forks, as well as precious stones. Presented in 1961 at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, the object was then shown in nearly 150 exhibitions around the world until the beginning of the 1970s. After its numerous exhibitions, it was stored in Switzerland then acquired by Japanese owners who planned to disperse it. Christian Karoutzos bought it in the early 2000s and claims to have taken ten years to pay for it.
The presence of precious materials gives the flight a special dimension. Such a famous, massive and immediately identifiable work seems difficult to sell intact on the art market. Another hypothesis is therefore that of a theft targeting all or part of its materials: bronze, gold and stones. The precedent of the torque from the Vix treasure, a Celtic gold jewel weighing 480 grams stolen in July from the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais, immediately raised fears of its melting. In October 2025, the burglary of the Apollo gallery at the Louvre also targeted eight Crown Jewels, rich in diamonds, emeralds and sapphires.
The recent history of The Apocalypse could also be of interest to investigators. On August 6, The Parisian devoted a abundantly illustrated report to it, recalling the weight of the cover, its unique character and an acquisition value of “a few million euros”. The article also publicly announced that the cover and parchments were on display in Issoire until the end of October. It is possible that this report aroused the interest of thieves.
Christian Karoutzos, 79, is not only a collector. Of Greek origin, who studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he specialized in the conservation and restoration of heritage and worked on historical monuments. Visual artist and art publisher, he was also assistant to the culture and heritage of Issoire. In 2014, he created his contemporary art center, a private and autonomous structure. The Tourist Office indicates that around 300 works by 60 artists are presented there in four rooms on two floors.
