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Musée du Louvre
The Louvre palace (Sully wing; with a part of the Pyramid on the left)
Louvre is located in Paris
Louvre
Location within Paris
Established1793
LocationPalais Royal, Musée du Louvre,
75001 Paris, France
TypeArt museum, Design/Textile Museum, Historic site
Visitors8.3 million (2007)[1]
DirectorHenri Loyrette
CuratorMarie-Laure de Rochebrune
Public transit accessMetro, Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre
Websitewww.louvre.fr

The Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre), located in Paris, France, is the world's most visited art museum, a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark in Paris, and is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the neighborhood of the 1st arrondissement. The collection's nearly 35,000 pieces are displayed over 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft).

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (French: Palais du Louvre, which was built on the land formerly occupied by a fortress constructed in 1190 under Philip II. Building of the Palace seen today began in 1546 under Francois I. The king employed architect Pierre Lescot and scultpor Jean Goujon, who renovated the site in French Renaissance style. Construction was continued by the sovereigns who followed him. The 460-metre (1,509 ft) Grande Gallerie, used today to display paintings, was begun by Henry IV in 1594. The structure was again increased in size under the Bourbon dynasty, when architects Le Vau and Lemercier completed the Cour Carrée. The Grand Louvre Project added the Pyramid and La Pyramide Inversée, finished in 1989 and 1993 respectively.

The museum, which contains some of the world's most celebrated artworks, is divided among eight curatorial departments. The exhibits represent nearly every artistic genre and provenance including works of Egyptian, Oriental, and Islamic origin. The collections of French paintings and sculptures are among the world's most notable, as are a large number of other pieces, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and Madonna of the Rocks; Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii; Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People; and Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo.

History

Medieval

The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible[2]
Main article: Palais du Louvre

In 1190 CE, Philip Augustus began construction on a fortress built on the spot of the future Louvre. It is unknown if this was the first building on that spot.[3][4][5] Likewise, the Louvre's etymology is uncertain: the name may be in reference to the structure's status as the largest in 12th century Paris (French L'Œuvre, masterpiece), its location in a forest (French rouvre, oak), or its origin as a fortified building (Anglo Saxon leouar, castle).[2][4]

The Louvre was renovated and extended frequently through the Middle Ages. In 1358 Charles V built an encircling wall and converted the Louvre into a residence.[5] King Francois I aqcuired what would become the nucleus of the Louvre's holdings, and purchased Italian masterpieces for his baths. Among the king's collection was the Mona Lisa, which was likely completed by Leonardo da Vinci after he moved to France in 1516.[6] In 1546, François I employed architect Pierre Lescot and sculptor Jean Goujon to remove the keep and to modernize the structure to conform to Renaissance style.[7] Lescot added an innovative ceiling to King Henry II's bedroom (Pavillon du Roi) that departed from the traditional beamed style, and installed the Salle des Caryatides, which featured sculpted caryatids based on Greek and Roman works.[8] These modifications are prime examples of French Renaissance style, which combined classicism and traditional French architecture.[9][10][11]

Bourbon dynasty

In 1564 Catherine de' Medici directed the building of the Palais des Tuileries which would face the Louvre. In 1594, King Henry IV began construction on his "Grand Design" to remove remnants of the medieval fortress. His plan included a 460-metre (1,509 ft) Grande Galerie to link the Pavillon de Flore, the Louvre, and the Palais des Tuileries. This linkage was completed by 1610, when the Pavillon de Flore was covered. Henry IV, however, was stabbed to death that year and his Grand Design lay unfinished.[9][10][12]

In 1624, the classical architects Le Vau and Lemercier completed the Cour Carrée under the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, quadrupling the size of the courtyard.[13] The eponymous Le Vau-Le Mercier Wing was finished and remains today. In 1659, Louis XIV instigated a phase of construction under Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and painter Charles le Brun. Le Nôtre redesigned à la française (in the French style) the Tuileries garden created in 1564 by Catherine de' Medici à l'italienne (in the Italian style); Le Vau finished the Tuileries palace; and Le Brun completed the decoration of the Galerie d'Apollon.[9] Progress slowed after Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence but despite this a colonnade was constructed along the eastern side, and a façade was built on the south.

Under Louis XIV the royal collection increased by roughly 1,800 pieces.[14] The household's move to Versailles allowed the Louvre to be used as residence for painters and artists.[4][10] Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert proposed the Louvre be used for exhibition and in 1750 Louis XV authorised the display of some of the collection at Versailles. This hall was available for public viewing on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and contained Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael.[15]

In 1776, Director General of Public Buildings comte d'Angiviller proposed that the Grande Galerie be converted into a French museum. The museum would contain masterpieces held in the royal collections. This idea was resisted, and the museum was not completed before the Revolution. However, improvements were made to the exhibition halls, including additions of skylights and new staircases.[15]

French Revolution

The Richelieu Wing of the Louvre at night

The Louvre as a showplace for artwork dates from the time of François I, but it was not during the French Revolution that the "Muséum Central des Arts" became public.[4][16] On 10 August 1792, the Bourbon monarchy collapsed, and Louis XVI was imprisoned. A committee was established to create a museum in the Louvre that, "preserve[d] the national memory by collecting objects suitable to the purpose."[15] The royal collection was declared national property and the National Assembly officially turned the palace into a museum.[16] The existing royal collection was combined with appropriated Church property from 1789.[9]

Opening

The museum opened 10 August 1793 with fanfare: public viewing of the Ancien Régime's collection was seen as a "benefit of Liberty" and thus a byproduct of the Revolution.[16] The opening collection showcased 537 paintngs and 184 objects of art.[17] The early days were hectic, artists lived in residence, and works were placed randomly throughout the palace. The paintings were hung "frame to frame from floor to ceiling" and without labels. On days with strong sun, the works received too much light. The building itself was forced to close on May 1796 because of structural deficiencies. It reopened on 14 July, 1801 arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns.[17]

To expand and organize the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000 livres per year.[18] 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 major museum and symbol of revolutionary progress.[16][4][9]

Napoleon

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.[19]

Under Napoleon, the museum augmented its collection through successful military campaigns. Following the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, Napoleon appointed the museum's first director, Dominique Vivant. In tribute, the museum was renamed the "Musée Napoléon" in 1803, and Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works were acquired as spoils. These were met by gleeful Parisians, who escorted the works to the museum from the quais of the Seine.[2]

After the French defeat at Waterloo, the former owners of many works sought their return. The Louvre's administrators were loath to comply and hid many in their private collections. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help, and the pieces were returned. The diminished Louvre began adding articles from other Parisian institutions such as the Luxembourg Palace, from which the Rubens collection, the Life of St. Bruno, and works by Vernet were acquired.[2]


Third Republic to present

The French Third Republic began with France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the Second Empire's fall. During this period, the Louvre acquired new pieces via donations and large gifts, such as those from Baron Devaillier and Madame Boucicaut. The Société des Amis du Louvre donated the Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, and in 1863 the sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace was uncovered in an expedition to the Aegean Sea. This piece, though heavily damaged, is one of the Louvre's most valuable and has been prominently displayed since 1884.[2][9]

This growth was disrupted by the two World Wars, when valuable pieces were hidden, including the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. After the wars, the museum was unable to acquire many significant works, with the exceptions of 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.[9]

The Louvre today is a monument and in 2004 was the world's most visited art museum.[20][21] The collection's nearly 35,000 pieces are displayed over 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft).[22] It contains elements of its medieval beginnings, Renaissance additions, neoclassical renovations, and recent modifications, such as elevators.[23] The Louvre is notable in popular culture, having been a point of interest in the book The Da Vinci Code.[24]

Axe historique

Per the diagram, the Louvre is unaligned with axe historique; the garden surrounding the destroyed Tuileries palace is aligned, the courtyard is not.

Main article: Axe historique

The destroyed Tuileries Palace (once connected to the Louvre), lies at the eastern end of the Axe historique (Historic Axis), an 8-kilometre (5 mi) line of sight beginning at La Défense that includes the Champs Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe. The Axis was begun in 1572, when architect André Le Nôtre planted a line of trees from the Louvre's courtyard to the Tuileries.[25] In 1871, when the Paris Commune burned down the palace, it exposed that the Louvre was unaligned to the Axis, despite having appeared aligned the same sight line as the Champs Élysées.[26]

Grand Louvre and the Pyramids

Main article: Louvre Pyramid

In 1983, President François Mitterand proposed his 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 for the central courtyard that, he argued, created a "strong symbolic element ... delicate and stable, correctly proportioned so as not to overwhelm the architecture of the Louvre, but rearing its point there... "[23] The pyramid and its underground lobby, which enclose the entrance area, were inaugurated on 15 October 1988. The second phase of the Grand Louvre plan, La Pyramide Inversée (The Inverted Pyramid), was completed in 1993.[23]

The Louvre Museum courtyard at night, with the Pyramid displayed at centre.

Departments and organization

The Musée du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments. More than 60,600 square metres (652,000 sq ft) of exhibition space is dedicated to the permanent collection.[27] According to the 2005 annual report, the collection's 11,900 Western paintings constitute the second largest after the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. 6,000 paintings are on permanent display, and 5,900 are in storage. Besides paintings, the Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d'art, and archaeological finds.[2][9] Oversight is carried out by 2,000 employees who are led by Director Henri Loyrette, who replaced Pierre Rosenberg in 2001.[28][29]

Decorative arts

The Diadem of the Duchess of Angoulême contains gold, gilt silver, 40 emeralds and 1,031 diamonds. The crown matches an emerald necklace made by Paul-Nicolas Menière in 1814 and is housed in the Decorative Arts department.

The decorative art displays span from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The department began as a subset of the sculpture department, through both appropriation of royal property after the Revolution of 1789 and the transfer of work from the Basilique Saint-Denis, the burial ground of French monarchs that held the Coronation Sword of the Kings of France.[30][31] 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 additional pieces were given by Pierre Révoil. The onset of Romanticism rekindled interest in Renaissance and Medieval artwork, and the Sauvageot donation expanded the department's such holdings 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.[31][32]

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 with his theme. The medieval collection notably contains the coronation crown of Louis XIV, Charles V's sceptre, and the 12th century porphyry vase.[33] The Renaissance art holdings include Giambologna's bronze Nessus and Deianira and the tapestry Maximillian's Hunt.[30] From later periods, highlights include Madame de Pompadour's Sèvres vase collection and Napoléon III's apartments.[30]

Egyptian antiquities

The Seated Scribe is a piece added to the Louvre's collection from the findings of Auguste Mariette and dates from between 2600 and 2350 BCE. The limestone and alabaster work was found in a tomb near Saqqara. This piece is noted for its "lifelike expression".[34]

Egyptian Antiquities attests to 19th century French Egyptology and holds over 50,000 pieces from the Nile civilizations dating from 4,000 BCE to the 4th century CE and spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods.[35] The department's comprehensiveness allows an overview of Egptian life. Egyptian artifacts from the royal collection predate the department and Napoleon, but European interest in Egypt was low before Napoleon's 1798 expeditionary trip with Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre.[36][37] The department opened in 1826 after a decree by King Charles X, impressed by Rosetta Stone translator Jean-François Champollion. The collection expanded with 2,500 works from Durand's holdings and 4,000 from the "Egyptian Consul to Alexandria".[36] The department continued to grow with acquisitions by Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo who, after being dispatched to Egypt, sent back crates of archaeological finds including The Seated Scribe.[37]

The collection is guarded by the Large Sphinx (circa 2000 BCE) and is housed primarily in over twenty rooms in the Cour Carrée and Denon Wing. Holdings include art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments, and weapons.[36][35] Significant pieces from the Ancient period are the Gebel-el Arak knife from 3400 BCE, The Seated Scribe, and the Head of King Djedefre. Middle Kingdom art, "known for its gold work and statues", moved from realism to idealization.[35] This is exemplified by the sandstone statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer.[36] The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are deep, but the statue of the goddess Nephthys and the limestone depiction of the goddess Hathor demonstrate New Kingdom sentiment and wealth.[35][37]

Greek, Etruscan, and Roman

A marble female head dating from the second millennium BCE. Although there appears to be no facial features aside from the nose, traces of pigment from other pieces indicate that these were added with paint.[34]

The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the Neolithic to the 6th century CE.[38] The encyclopedic collection compromises the Cycladic period (notably the marble Female Head, which dates to between 2700 and 2400 BCE), to the decline of the Roman Empire and showcases ceramics, marbles, ivories, frescoes, glass work, and precious metal items.[33] This department is one of the museum's oldest.[35] It began with appropriated royal art, some of which had been acquired under François I in the Salle des Caryatides.[39] 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 many of these pieces were returned after Napoleon's fall in 1815. In the 19th century, the Louvre acquired vases from the Durand collection, bronzes such as the Borghese Vase from the Bibliothèque nationale, and work in other mediums.[34][38]

The collection's vastness makes selection of notable works difficult.[33] The archaic is demonstrated by jewewlry and pieces such as the limestone Lady of Auxerre and Hera of Samos.[35] After the 4th century BCE, focus on the human form increased, exemplified by the Borghese Gladiator. The Louvre holds various masterpieces from the Hellenistic, including The Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BCE) and the Venus de Milo, which "symboliz[es] classical art", are among the most well-known of the Louvre's holdings.[33][39] In the galleries paralleling the Seine, much of the museum's Roman sculpture is displayed.[38] The Roman portraiture is particularly representative of that genre; examples include the portraits of Agrippa and Annius Verus; among the bronzes is the Greek Apollo of Piombino, which can be contrasted to the later portraits.[33] Also notable are the Greek vases such as Eupronios' Heracles and Antaeus that offer a full perspective on all stylistic schools from the 9th century to the 2nd century BCE.[33]

Islamic art

Human-headed winged bulls and reliefs from Khorsabad.

The Islamic art collection, the museum's youngest, spans "thirteen centuries and three continents".[40] These exhibits, composed of ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures, include more than 5,000 works and 1,000 shards.[41] Originally part of the decorative arts department, the holdings became separate in 2003. Prime amongst the works are the Pyxide d'al-Mughira, an ivory box dating to 968 CE from Andalusia, and the Baptistery of Saint-Louis, an engraved brass basin from the 13th or 14 century Mamluk period.[42][40] The collection further contains three pages of the Shahnameh, an epic poem by Ferdowsi in Persian, and a Syrian metalwork named the Barberini Vase.[41]

Near Eastern antiquities

This Assyrian human-headed winged bull (lamassu), dating to the 8th century BCE, was part of Paul-Émile Botta's's excavation and one of the earliest pieces in the Louvre collection.

Near Eastern antiquities, the second youngest 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 Iran. Development of the department corresponds with archaeological work in those regions, beginning with Paul-Émile Botta's 1843 expedition to Khorsabad and the discovery of Sargon II's palace.[43].[35][42] These finds formed the basis of the Assyrian museum. The early holdings were augmented by Claude Schafeffer's excavations in Ras-Shamra and André Parrot's work in Mari, Syria.[33]

Particularly notable are the Louvre's exhibits from Sumer and the city of Akkad, with monuments such as the Prince of Lagash's Stele of the Vultures from 2,450 BCE and the stele erected by Naram-Suen, King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the Zagros Mountains. A renowned piece is the Code of Hammurabi, discovered in 1901. This 2.25-metre (7.38 ft) basalt stele displayed Babylonian Laws prominently, so that no man could plead their ignorance. The Iranian portion contains work from the archaic period, Funerary Head, the Archers of Darius I from Persia.[35][43]

Paintings

The paintings collection has more than 6,000 works from the 13th century to 1848, nearly two-thirds by French artists, with more than 1,200 Northern European pieces, and an outstanding Italian collection.[44] The holdings are perhaps the "most complete" collection of Western pictorial art, although they are not the world's largest.[45] The 12 curators of the paintings department oversee the arrangement and display of the collection, which predates the Louvre as a museum. The use of the Louvre as a depository for painted works in the Royal Collection began with François I, who envisioned a collection rivaling the great Italian ones, and began to deposit paintings in the fortress.[33] The king acquired works from Italian masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo and brought Leonardo da Vinci to his court.[46]

After the French Revolution, the Royal Collection formed the nucleus of the Louvre. The collection grew through the First French Empire during Napoleon's European Wars, mostly via shipments of wartime spoils, by no means all of which were returned after 1815. When the d'Orsay train station was converted into the Musée d'Orsay in 1986, the painting collection was split, and the 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, while Spanish and Italian paintings are on the first floor of the Denon wing.[44]

The Coronation of Napoleon (1806) by Jacques-Louis David. David was permitted to attend the coronation and executed the painting for 24,000 francs.

Particularly exemplifying the French School are the early Avignon Pieta of Enguerrand Quarton; Jean Fouquet's King Jean le Bon, the first known French easel painting; Hyacinthe Rigaud's Louis XIV; Jacques-Louis David's The Coronation of Napoleon; and Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, commemorating the July Revolution.[33][34] Notable Northern European works include Johannes Vermeer's The Lacemaker and The Astronomer; Caspar David Friedrich's Tree of Crows; Rembrandt's The Supper at Emmaus, Bathsheba at Her Bath, and The Slaughtered Ox. The Italian paintings, some drawn from François I's collection, include Andrea Mantegna's Calvary and Saint Sebastian; Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Virgin of the Rocks; and Caravaggio's The Fortune Teller and Death of the Virgin.[44]

Prints and drawings

The prints and drawings department collects works on paper and has more than 100,000 items.[47] The origin of the collection was the 8,600 works in the Royal Collection, the Cabinet du Roi, augmented through state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200 works from Fillipo Baldinucci's collection in 1806, and donations.[34][48] As with the paintings department, the collection also grew from military campaigns during Napoleon's reign.[48] The department was opened for public viewing on August 5, 1797, with 415 pieces on display. The works were displayed in the Gallerie d'Apollon.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Sculptures

Tomb of Philippe Pot, governor of Burgundy under Louis XI, by Antoine le Moiturier

The sculptures department contains work created before 1850 that does not belong in the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman department.[49] The Louvre has been a repository of sculpted material since its time as a palace; however, since only ancient architecture was considered suitable for study, the first display of Medieval, Renaissance, and modern sculpture did not occur until 1824 except for Michelangelo's Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave.[50] Initially, the collection was small, with 100 pieces, due to the government's focus on Versailles. It remained so until 1847, when Léon Laborde was given control of the department. Laborde developed the medieval section and purchased the first such statues and sculpture in the collection, King Childebert and stanga door, respectively.[50] Initially, the collection was part of the department of antiquities but was given autonomy in 1871 under Louis Courajod, a director who organized a wider representation of French works.[49][50] In 1986, all works from after 1850 were relocated to the new Musée d'Orsay. As part of the Grand Louvre project, the sculpture department was separated into two exhibition spaces; the French collection is displayed in the Richelieu wing, while foreign works are located throughout the Denon wing.[49]

The sculpture collection's comprehensive overview of French sculpture includes Romanesque works such as the 11th century Daniel in the Lions' Den and the 12th century Virgin of Auvergne. In the 16th century, Renaissance influence caused French sculpture to become more delicate and restrained, as can be seen in Jean Goujon's bas-reliefs, and Germain Pilon's Descent from the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. The 17th and 18th centuries are represented by Étienne Maurice Falconet's Woman Bathing and Amour menaçant and François Anguier's obelisks. The neoclassical period highlights include Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (1787), one of the Louvre's most famous works and one that demonstrates the period's emphasis on emotion and love.[33][50]

Controversies

The Louvre has been involved in its share of controversies, notably surrounding the restitution of cultural property. Debate surrounds cultural property seized during World War II by the German occupiers. After the war, more than 60,000 articles were returned to France. Of those, nearly 2,000 objects that did not have clear ownership, and were claimed by Israelis and Jews were retained by French museums, including the Louvre. In 1997, Prime Minister Alain Juppé initiated the Mattéoli Commission, named after concentration camp survivor Jean Mattéoli, to investigate the matter, and "according to the government[,] the Louvre continues to hold 678 pieces of artwork."[51]

Additionally, discussion continues over the Italian and Northern European pieces acquired by the French military during the course of Napoleon's campaigns as well as antiquities held by the Louvre that were taken during excavations, particularly in Egypt and the Near East. The Louvre administration has argued in favor of retaining these items despite requests by source nations for their return, and it participates in arbitration sessions held via UNESCO's Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin.[52]

Satellite museums

Lens

Main article: Louvre-Lens

In 2004, French officials decided to build a satellite museum on the site of an abandoned coal pit in the former mining town of Lens in order to relieve the crowded Paris Louvre, increase total museum visits, and improve the industrial north's economy.[53] Six cities were considered for the project: Amiens, Arras, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Lens, and Valenciennes. In 2004, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin chose Lens, Pas-de-Calais, to be the site of the new building, to be called Le Louvre-Lens. Museum officials predicted that the new building, capable of receiving about 600 works of art, would attract as many as 500,000 visitors a year when it opened in 2009.[53] The architectural team of Sanaa of Tokyo, under the direction of Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, was awarded the project.[54]

Abu Dhabi

Main article: Louvre Abu Dhabi

In March 2007, the Louvre announced that a Louvre museum would be completed by 2012 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. A 30-year agreement, signed by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, will establish a Louvre 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 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) and will be covered by a roof shaped like a flying saucer. France has agreed to rotate between 200 and 300 artworks through the Louvre Abu Dhabi 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 French 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.[55]

Location and access

A map of the Louvre in the 1er arrondissement or Paris. Metro Lines serving the area are shown, with stations colored red. Note that the RER is not shown. Landmarks are in black.

The museum lies in the heavily-visited centre of Paris on the Right Bank. The neighborhood, known as the 1er arrondissement, is home to the destroyed Palais des Tuileries and the Tuileries Gardens. These gardens, created in 1564 by Catherine de Medici and reorganized in 1664 by André Le Nôtre, house the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, a contemporary art museum that was used to store Jewish cultural property from 1940 to 1944.[56]

The Pavillon de Flore and Denon Wing, parallel to the Seine River, are at 36 Quai du Louvre. From the Left Bank, the museum is across from the Pont du Carrousel or the Pont des Arts. The museum is bounded on the north by Napoleon's Rue de Rivoli and Cardinal Richelieu's former residence, the Palais Royal. To the east is the Place du Louvre.[56]

The Louvre can be reached by the Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli station. The stations are named after the nearby Palais Royal, the Louvre, and the Rue de Rivoli.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sandler, Linda (February 25, 2008). "Louvre's 8.3 Million Visitors Make It No. 1 Museum Worldwide". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Potter, pp. 1-30
  3. ^ Durant, page 7
  4. ^ a b c d e Edwards, page 194
  5. ^ a b Pitt, page
  6. ^ Chaundy, Bob (2006-09-29). "Faces of the Week". BBC. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Sturdy, page 42
  8. ^ Blunt, page
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Nave, pages 1-12
  10. ^ a b c "Structurae [fr]: Palais du Louvre (1993)". Structurae Database. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  11. ^ The project is analyzed in the context of Parisian urbanism. Thomson, David (1984). Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth, 1475-1600. Berkeley: University of California. pp. 60–70.
  12. ^ Sutcliffe, p. 31
  13. ^ Baedeker, pp. 87-89
  14. ^ Nore, p. 274
  15. ^ a b c Nave, p. 276, 278
  16. ^ a b c d McClellan, page 14-20, 95-110
  17. ^ a b Alexander, p.24
  18. ^ Nora, p. 278
  19. ^ Monaghan, Sean M. (2000). "French Sculpture 1800-1825, Canova". 19th Century Paris Project. School of Art and Design, San Jose State University. Retrieved 2008-04-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Top 5 Most Visited Museums". Time magazine for kids. October 1, 2004. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  21. ^ "Exhibition attendance figures 2007" (pdf). The Art Newspaper. March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Thirty-Five Thousand Works of Art". Musée du Louvre. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
  23. ^ a b c Mignot, p. 10
  24. ^ Lunn, page 137
  25. ^ Bowkett, page 12
  26. ^ Rogers, page 159
  27. ^ "Œuvres". Musée du Louvre. Retrieved 2008-04-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  28. ^ "Louvre, Organization Chart". Louvre.fr Official Site. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  29. ^ "New Boss at Louvre's helm". BBC News. 29 March 2001. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
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  56. ^ a b Mroue, p. 176

Works Cited

See also

External links

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