New Delhi, Feb. 28 -- After months of pressure, the Louvre has a new director.

Christophe Leribault was named to lead the landmark on Wednesday, half a day after the resignation of previous director Laurence des Cars. The leadership change at the world's most-visited museum comes after the October crown jewels heist and a string of failures that battered confidence in one of the country's most prized institutions.

The rapid handover is meant to restore order at a museum hit by a punishing run of crises: the heist, labor unrest, water leaks, aging infrastructure and a suspected, decade-long $12 million ticket fraud scheme.

It also protects a politically loaded project for President Emmanuel Macron, who has made the Louvre overhaul a sig...