Claude Grouard

Claude Grouard is the senior security warden at the Louvre Museum, a veteran guard who carries a loaded weapon—a rare privilege among the museum's security staff. His devotion to Jacques Saunière is profound; he regards the murdered curator as a well-loved father, and the discovery of Saunière's body fills him with a simmering rage that makes him want to pull the trigger on Robert Langdon, whom he believes to be the killer. Grouard's professional discipline barely restrains his personal fury, and he reminds himself that a bullet would be too merciful compared to what Bezu Fache and the French prison system have in store for the American.

Confrontation in the Salle des Etats

When Grouard enters the Salle des Etats, he finds Langdon standing before the Mona Lisa and immediately orders him to lie face-down on the parquet floor. Langdon complies, and Grouard kicks his legs apart, spreading him out in a position that ironically mirrors the Vitruvian Man pose Saunière had assumed in death. Grouard presses his gun hard into Langdon's back and mutters, "Mauvaise idée, Monsieur Langdon." He attempts to radio for backup but gets only static—the additional electronic security in this chamber wreaks havoc with the guards' communications. Forced to move toward the doorway to get a signal, Grouard backs up slowly, keeping his weapon trained on the prone Langdon.

Sophie Neveu's Intervention

As Grouard retreats toward the entrance, he spots a second figure moving through the darkness—a woman with a purplish beam of light scanning the floor. He demands her name, and she identifies herself as Sophie Neveu, a name he recognizes as Saunière's granddaughter. Grouard has heard rumors of the painful falling-out between Saunière and his granddaughter, so her presence does not earn his trust. When Sophie claims that Langdon did not kill her grandfather, Grouard is not about to take that on faith. He continues backing toward the exit, still trying to raise someone on his walkie-talkie.

The Threat to Madonna of the Rocks

Sophie, realizing Grouard cannot transmit from inside the room, takes decisive action. She lifts the five-foot-tall Da Vinci painting Madonna of the Rocks off its cables and props it on the floor in front of her, then pushes her knee into the center of the canvas, causing the fragile outlines of the Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus, and John the Baptist to begin distorting. Grouard gasps, "Mon dieu, non!" and freezes in horror. He knows he cannot put a bullet through a Da Vinci—the canvas is utterly impenetrable, a six-million-dollar piece of body armor. Sophie calmly tells him to set down his gun and radio, or she will put her knee through the painting. Grouard, dizzy with the threat to the priceless masterpiece, drops his weapons and raises his hands over his head. He is left trembling on the floor as Langdon and Sophie escape, taking the gold key Saunière had hidden behind the painting.