| Name | Musée du Louvre |
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| Caption | The Louvre palace (Richelieu wing) |
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| Pushpin map | Paris |
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| Latitude | 48.860395 |
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| Longitude | 2.337599 |
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| Established | 1793 |
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| Location | Palais Royal, Musée du Louvre,75001 Paris, France |
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| Type | Art museum, Design/Textile Museum, Historic site |
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| Visitors | 8.3 million (2007)8.5 million (2008)8.5 million (2009) |
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| Director | Henri Loyrette |
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| Curator | Marie-Laure de Rochebrune |
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| Publictransit | *Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre |
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| Website | www.louvre.fr |
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The Musée du Louvre (), or officially Grand Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (district). Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet).
The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are still visible. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.
The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoléon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic, except during the two World Wars. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.
History:12th-20th centuries
Medieval, Renaissance, and Bourbon palace
The Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which houses the museum was begun as a fortress by Philip II in the 12th century, with remnants of this building still visible in the crypt. Whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, but it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower.
The Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis I (François 1er ) renovated the site in French Renaissance style. Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvre's holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed; however, the move permitted the Louvre to be used as a residence for artists.
By the mid-18th century there was an increasing number of proposals to create a public gallery, with Lafont Saint-Yenne publishing, in 1747, a call for a display of the royal collection'. On 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. A hall was opened by Le Normant de Tournehem and the Marquis de Marigny for public viewing of the Tableaux du Roy on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and contained Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael; Titian; Veronese; Rembrandt; Poussin or Van Dyck, until its closing in 1780 as a result of the gift of the palace to the comte de Provence by the king in 1778.
Opening
's
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824.]]
The museum opened on 10 August 1793, the first anniversary of the monarchy's demise. The public was given free access on three days per week, which was "perceived as a major accomplishment and was generally appreciated". The collection showcased 537 paintings and 184 objects of art. Three quarters were derived from the royal collections, the remainder from confiscated émigrés and Church property (biens nationaux). To expand and organize the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000 livres per year. In 1794, France's revolutionary armies began bringing pieces from across Europe, such as Laocoön and His Sons and the Apollo Belvedere, to establish the Louvre as a museum and as a "sign of popular sovereignty".
The early days were hectic; artists lived in residence, and the unlabelled paintings hung "frame to frame from floor to ceiling". The building itself closed in May 1796 because of structural deficiencies. It reopened on 14 July 1801, arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns. Following the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, Napoléon appointed the museum's first director, Dominique Vivant Denon. In tribute, the museum was renamed the "Musée Napoléon" in 1803, and acquisitions were made of Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works, either as spoils or through treaties such as the Treaty of Tolentino. In 1815 Louis XVIII finally concluded agreements with Italy for the keeping of pieces like Veronese's Marriage of Cana which was exchanged for a large Le Brun or the repurchase of the Albani collection.
Restoration and Second Empire
was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of
Louis XVIII.]]
During the Restoration (1814–30), Louis XVIII and Charles X between them added 135 pieces at a cost of 720,000 francs and created the department of Egyptian antiquities curated by Champollion, increased by more than 7,000 works with the acquisition of the Durand, Salt or second Drovetti collections. This was less than the amount given for rehabilitation of Versailles, and the Louvre suffered relative to the rest of Paris. After the creation of the French Second Republic in 1848, the new government allocated two million francs for repair work and ordered the completion of the Galerie d'Apollon, the Salon Carré, and the Grande Galérie.
Third Republic and World Wars
During the
French Third Republic the Louvre acquired new pieces mainly via donations and gifts. The
Société des Amis du Louvre donated the
Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, and in 1863 an expedition uncovered the sculpture
Winged Victory of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea. This piece, though heavily damaged, has been prominently displayed since 1884.
Museum expansion slowed after World War I, and the collection did not acquire many significant new works; exceptions were Georges de La Tour's Saint Thomas and Baron Edmond de Rothschild's (1845–1934) 1935 donation of 4,000 engravings, 3,000 drawings, and 500 illustrated books. In early 1945, after the liberation of France, art began returning to the Louvre.
Grand Louvre and the Pyramids
By 1874, the Louvre Palace had achieved its present form of an almost rectangular structure with the Sully Wing to the east containing the square Cour Carrée and the oldest parts of the Louvre; and two wings which wrap the Cour Napoléon, the Richelieu Wing to the north and the Denon Wing, which borders the Seine to the south. In 1983, French President François Mitterrand proposed the Grand Louvre plan to renovate the building and relocate the Finance Ministry, allowing displays throughout the building. Architect I. M. Pei was awarded the project and proposed a glass pyramid to stand over a new entrance in the main court, the Cour Napoléon. The pyramid and its underground lobby were inaugurated on 15 October 1988. The second phase of the Grand Louvre plan, La Pyramide Inversée (The Inverted Pyramid), was completed in 1993. As of 2002, attendance had doubled since completion.
21st century
of visitors to the Louvre]]
The
Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than dedicated to the permanent collection. The Louvre exhibits sculptures,
objets d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds.
Administration
is the Louvre's most popular attraction.]]
The Louvre is owned by the French government; however, since the nineties it has become more independent. Since 2003, the museum has been required to generate funds for projects. By 2006, government funds had dipped from 75 percent of the total budget to 62 percent. In 2008, the French government provided $180 million of the Louvre's yearly $350 million budget; the remainder came from private contributions and ticket sales.
The Louvre employs a staff of 2,000 led by Director Henri Loyrette, who reports to the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. Under Loyrette, who replaced Pierre Rosenberg in 2001, the Louvre has undergone policy changes that allow it to lend and borrow more works than before.
Abu Dhabi
In March 2007, the Louvre announced that a Louvre museum would be completed by 2012 in Abu Dhabi. A 30-year agreement, signed by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, will establish the museum in downtown Abu Dhabi in exchange for €832,000,000 (US$1.3 billion). The Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and the engineering firm of Buro Happold, will occupy and will be covered by a roof shaped like a flying saucer. France agreed to rotate between 200 and 300 artworks during a 10-year period; to provide management expertise; and to provide four temporary exhibitions a year for 15 years. The art will come from multiple museums, including the Louvre, the Georges Pompidou Centre, the Musée d'Orsay, Versailles, the Musée Guimet, the Musée Rodin, and the Musée du quai Branly.
Controversies
The Louvre is involved in controversies that surround cultural property seized during World War II by the Nazis and under Napoleon I. After
Nazi occupation, 61,000 articles on more than 150,000 seized artworks returned to France and were assigned to the
Office des Biens Privés. In 1949 it entrusted 2000 remaining unclaimed pieces (including 1001 paintings), mostly but not only from Jewish spoliations, to the
Direction des Musées de France in order to keep them under appropriate conditions of conservation and classified them as MNRs (
Musees Nationaux Recuperation or, in English : National Museums of Recovered Artwork).
They were shown all together to the public during four years (1950–1954) in order to allow rightful claimants to identify their properties, then stored or exposed, according to their interest, in several French museums including the Louvre. Until the identification of their rightful owners, which declined at the end of the 1960s, they are registered indefinitely on separate inventories from the museums collections. In 1997, Prime Minister Alain Juppé initiated the Mattéoli Commission, headed by Jean Mattéoli, to investigate the matter and "according to the government[,] the Louvre holds 678 pieces of [still unclaimed] artwork [by their rightful owners]."
The 1950s catalogue has been accessible online since November 1996 completed and accompanied by illustrations. During the 1990s the comparison of the American war archives, which had not been done before, with the German and French ones as well as two court cases which finally settled some of the heirs rights (Gentili di Giuseppe and Rosenberg families) allowed more accurate investigations and the restitution of 47 more pieces (26 paintings), until the last claims of French owners and their heirs virtually ended again in 2006.
According to Serge Klarsfeld, since the more complete publicity which the artworks got in 1996, the majority of the French Jewish community is nevertheless in favour of the return to the normal French civil rule of prescription acquisitive of any unclaimed good after another long period of time and consequently to their ultimate integration into the common French heritage instead of their transfer to foreign institutions like during World War II. Napoleon's campaigns acquired Italian pieces by treaties, as war reparations, and Northern European pieces as spoils as well as some antiquities excavated in Egypt, even if the last were quasi entirely seized as war reparations by the British army and are now kept at the British museum.
On the other hand the Dendera zodiac is, like the Rosetta stone, claimed by Egypt even if it was acquired in 1821, before the Egyptian Anti-export legislation of 1835. The Louvre administration has argued in favor of retaining this item despite requests by Egypt for its return. The museum participates in arbitration sessions held via UNESCO's Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin. The museum consequently returned in 2009 five Egyptian fragments of frescoes (30 cm x 15 cm each) whose existence of the tomb of origin had only been brought to the authorities attention in 2008, five years after their good-faith acquisition by the museum from two private collections and after the necessary respect of the procedure of déclassement from French public collections before the Commission scientifique nationale des collections des musées de France.
Collections
from
Saqqara, Egypt, limestone and alabaster, circa 2600 and 2350 BC]]
The
Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments.
Egyptian antiquities
The department, comprising over 50,000 pieces, The department's origins lie in the royal collection, but it was augmented by Napoleon's 1798 expeditionary trip with
Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre. After
Jean-François Champollion translated the
Rosetta Stone,
Charles X decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created. Champollion advised the purchase of three collections, the Durand, Salt and Drovetti; these additions added 7,000 works. Growth continued via acquisitions by
Auguste Mariette, founder of the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at
Memphis, sent back crates of archaeological finds including
The Seated Scribe.
),
Assyria, limestone, 8th century BC.]]
Near Eastern antiquities
Near Eastern antiquities, the second newest department, dates from 1881 and presents an overview of early Near Eastern civilization and "first settlements", before the arrival of
Islam. The department is divided into three geographic areas: the
Levant,
Mesopotamia, and
Persia (
Iran) . The collection's development corresponds to archaeological work such as
Paul-Émile Botta's 1843 expedition to
Khorsabad and the discovery of
Sargon II's palace. This section is also contains rare objects from
Persepolis which were also lent to
British Museum for its Ancient Persia exihibition in 2005.
(winged Victory), marble, circa 190 BC]]
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman
The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the
Neolithic to the 6th century. The collection spans from the
Cycladic period to the decline of the Roman Empire. This department is one of the museum's oldest; it began with appropriated royal art, some of which was acquired under
Francis I. Initially, the collection focused on marble sculptures, such as the
Venus de Milo. Works such as the
Apollo Belvedere arrived during the Napoleonic Wars, but these pieces were returned after Napoleon I's fall in 1815. In the 19th century, the Louvre acquired works including vases from the Durand collection, bronzes such as the
Borghese Vase from the
Bibliothèque nationale. After the 4th century BC, focus on the human form increased, exemplified by the
Borghese Gladiator. The Louvre holds masterpieces from the
Hellenistic era, including The
Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) and the
Venus de Milo, symbolic of classical art. These exhibits, comprising ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures, include more than 5,000 works and 1,000 shards. Originally part of the decorative arts department, the holdings became separate in 2003. Among the works are the
Pyxide d'al-Mughira, a 10th century ivory box from
Andalusia; the
Baptistery of Saint-Louis, an engraved brass basin from the 13th or 14 century
Mamluk period; and the 10th century
Shroud of Josse from Iran. The Louvre has been a repository of sculpted material since its time as a palace; however, only ancient architecture was displayed until 1824, except for
Michelangelo's
Dying Slave and
Rebellious Slave. Initially the collection included only 100 pieces, the rest of the royal sculpture collection being at Versailles. It remained small until 1847, when Léon Laborde was given control of the department. Laborde developed the medieval section and purchased the first such statues and sculptures in the collection,
King Childebert and
stanga door, respectively. Among the budding collection's most prized works were
pietre dure vases and bronzes. The Durand collection's 1825 acquisition added "ceramics, enamels, and stained glass", and 800 pieces were given by Pierre Révoil. The onset of
Romanticism rekindled interest in
Renaissance and
Medieval artwork, and the Sauvageot donation expanded the department with 1,500 middle-age and
faïence works. In 1862, the Campana collection added gold jewelry and maiolicas, mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries.
The works are displayed on the Richelieu Wing's first floor and in the Apollo Gallery, named by the painter Charles Le Brun, who was commissioned by Louis XIV (the Sun King) to decorate the space in a solar theme. The medieval collection contains the coronation crown of Louis XIV, Charles V's sceptre, and the 12th century porphyry vase. The Renaissance art holdings include Giambologna's bronze Nessus and Deianira and the tapestry Maximillian's Hunt. From later periods, highlights include Madame de Pompadour's Sèvres vase collection and Napoleon III's apartments. The collection began with Francis, who acquired works from Italian masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo, and brought Leonardo da Vinci to his court. After the French Revolution, the Royal Collection formed the nucleus of the Louvre. When the d'Orsay train station was converted into the Musée d'Orsay in 1986, the collection was split, and pieces completed after the 1848 Revolution were moved to the new museum. French and Northern European works are in the Richelieu wing and Cour Carrée; Spanish and Italian paintings are on the first floor of the Denon wing. Hyacinthe Rigaud's Louis XIV; Jacques-Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon; and Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. Northern European works include Johannes Vermeer's The Lacemaker and The Astronomer; Caspar David Friedrich's The Tree of Crows; Rembrandt's The Supper at Emmaus, Bathsheba at Her Bath, and The Slaughtered Ox.
The Italian holdings are notable, particularly the Renaissance collection. The works include Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini's Calvarys, which reflect realism and detail "meant to depict the significant events of a greater spiritual world". The High Renaissance collection includes Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. John the Baptist, and Madonna of the Rocks. Caravaggio is represented by The Fortune Teller and Death of the Virgin. From 16th century Venice, the Louvre displays Titian's Le Concert Champetre, The Entombment and The Crowning with Thorns.
, France, pen and wash on squared paper, 1671]]
The La Caze Collection, a bequest to the Musée du Louvre in 1869 by Louis La Caze was the largest contribution of a person in the history of the Louvre. La Caze gave 584 paintings of his personal collection to the museum. The bequest included Antoine Watteau's Commedia dell'arte player of Pierrot ("Gilles"). In 2007, this bequest was the topic of the exhibition "1869: Watteau, Chardin... entrent au Louvre. La collection La Caze".
Some of the best known paintings of the museum have been digitized by the French Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France.
Prints and drawings
The
prints and drawings department encompasses works on paper. The origins of the collection were the 8,600 works in the Royal Collection (
Cabinet du Roi), which were increased via state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200 works from Fillipo Baldinucci's collection in 1806, and donations. The department opened on 5 August 1797, with 415 pieces displayed in the
Galerie d'Apollon. The collection is organized into three sections: the core
Cabinet du Roi, 14,000 royal copper printing-plates, and the donations of
Edmond de Rothschild, which include 40,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 5,000 illustrated books. The holdings are displayed in the Pavillon de Flore; due to the fragility of the paper medium, only a portion are displayed at one time. Parallel to the Jeu de Paume is the Orangerie, home to the famous Waterlilly paintings by Monet.
The Louvre is slightly askew of the axe historique (Historic Axis), a roughly eight-kilometre (five-mile) architectural line bisecting the city. It begins on the east in the Louvre courtyard and runs west along the Champs-Élysées. In 1871, the burning of the Tuileries Palace by the Paris Commune revealed that the Louvre was slightly askew of the Axe despite past appearances to the contrary. The Louvre can be reached by the Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations.
Under the main entrance to the museum is the Carousel du Louvre, a shopping mall operated by Unibail-Rodamco. Among other stores, it has the first Apple Store in France, and a McDonald's restaurant, the presence of which has created controversy.
The use of cameras and video recorders is permitted inside. Use of flashes is forbidden.
Gallery
See also
American Friends of the Louvre
Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France
List of museums in Paris
List of works in the Louvre
Musée de la Mode et du Textile
Notes
Works cited
External links
Official site of the Louvre Museum (in English)
"A Closer Look" series – multimedia features focusing on masterpieces from the Louvre (Louvre official web site)
Another site about the Louvre
Virtual reality gallery with fullscreen panoramas of the Louvre
Category:Institut de France
Category:Archaeological museums in France
Category:History museums in France
Category:Art museums and galleries in Paris
Category:Egyptological collections in France
Category:Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España recipients
Category:1793 establishments in France
![Crowd stand before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Visitors generally spend about 15 seconds viewing the Mona Lisa.[39] Until the 20th century, Mona Lisa was one among many and certainly not the](http://web.archive.org./web/20110903043743im_/http://cdn8.wn.com/pd/74/0b/bed9fc2b6200d9fa0797f13216c3_grande.jpg "Crowd stand before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Visitors generally spend about 15 seconds viewing the Mona Lisa.[39] Until the 20th century, Mona Lisa was one among many and certainly not the")
![Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, and the first version was donated to the Louvre after the reign of Napoleon I in 1824.[16]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110903043743im_/http://cdn7.wn.com/pd/99/aa/d665539c702a0604ad51d62a03db_grande.jpg "Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, and the first version was donated to the Louvre after the reign of Napoleon I in 1824.[16]")
![Crowd stand before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Visitors generally spend about 15 seconds viewing the Mona Lisa.[39] Until the 20th century, Mona Lisa was one among many and certainly not the](http://web.archive.org./web/20110903043743im_/http://cdn7.wn.com/pd/74/0b/bed9fc2b6200d9fa0797f13216c3_thumb.jpg "Crowd stand before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Visitors generally spend about 15 seconds viewing the Mona Lisa.[39] Until the 20th century, Mona Lisa was one among many and certainly not the")
![Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, and the first version was donated to the Louvre after the reign of Napoleon I in 1824.[16]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110903043743im_/http://cdn6.wn.com/pd/99/aa/d665539c702a0604ad51d62a03db_thumb.jpg "Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, and the first version was donated to the Louvre after the reign of Napoleon I in 1824.[16]")
