Louvre

Louvre, (properly, Musée du Louvre), national art museum of France and the palace in which it is housed, located in Paris, on the right bank of the Seine River. The structure, until 1672 a residence of the kings of France, is one of the largest palaces in the world. It occupies the site of a 13th-century fortress.

The building of the Louvre was begun in 1546 in the reign of Francis I, according to the plans of the French architect Pierre Lescot. Additions were made to the structure during the reigns of almost every subsequent French monarch. Under Henry IV, in the early 17th century, the Grande Galerie, now the main picture gallery, which borders the Seine, was completed. Under Napoleon III a wing on the north side (along the rue de Rivoli) was finished. By the mid-19th century the vast complex was completed; covering more than 19 hectares (48 acres), it is a masterpiece of architectural design and sculptural adornment.

In 1793 the Louvre was opened as a public museum, and the French painter Jacques-Louis David was appointed head of a commission to administer it. In 1848 it became the property of the state.

The nucleus of the Louvre collections is the group of Italian Renaissance paintings—among them several by Leonardo da Vinci—which were owned by Francis I, a collector and patron of note. The holdings were significantly enriched by acquisitions made for the monarchy by Cardinal Richelieu and by statesman Jules Mazarin, who was instrumental in purchasing works that had belonged to Charles I of England. Napoleon deposited the paintings and works of art seized during his European conquests in the Louvre; after his downfall, however, many of these works were restored to their original owners. Since that time increasing numbers of gifts, purchases, and finds brought back from archaeological expeditions have permanently enriched the museum.

Among the museum’s greatest treasures are two of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world, the Nike of Samothrace (or Winged Victory, 200? bc) and the Venus de Milo (150-100? bc). Another notable holding is Leonardo’s famous portrait, Mona Lisa (1503-1506). The Louvre also features works by the fellow Italian masters Raphael and Titian and paintings by the northern European artists Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt. Protection of all the Louvre’s priceless masterpieces during the two world wars was ensured by their removal to secret depositories located outside Paris.

The collections of the museum are administered by eight curatorial departments. The Department of Egyptian Antiquities was formed in 1826 to study and display the objects brought back to France during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt (see Egyptian Art and Architecture). The Department of Near Eastern Antiquities is famed for its collections of Mesopotamian art (see Mesopotamian Art and Architecture). The Department of Paintings, considered by many scholars to be the most important collection of its kind in the world, includes several thousand works of the various European schools. Its enormous collection of French paintings ranges from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century. Since 1986, however, works of French impressionism and postimpressionism, many dating from 1848 to 1914 and formerly housed in the Musée du Jeu de Paume (Tennis Court Museum) adjacent to the Louvre, have been included in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay on the left bank of the Seine River. Other departments of the Louvre include Islamic art; Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities; sculpture; prints and drawings; and decorative objects.

In 1993 the Richelieu Wing was opened by President François Mitterrand of France. The north wing of the Louvre Palace, formerly occupied by the Ministry of Finance, was vacated and transformed into exhibition areas. This ended the second phase of a project in progress since 1981 that included the addition of the glass pyramid entrance designed by American architect I.M. Pei, an auditorium, galleries for temporary exhibitions, displays on the history of the Louvre, moats of the medieval Louvre, restaurants, shops, and parking facilities.

Reviewed by: Musée du Louvre