Louvre

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Musée du Louvre
Shown within Paris
Established	1793
Location	Palais Royal, Musée du Louvre, 75001 Paris, France
Visitor figures	8.3 million (2007)[1]
Director	Henri Loyrette
Curator	Marie-Laure de Rochebrune
Public transit access	Metro, Palais Royal -- Musée du Louvre
Website	www.louvre.fr

Coordinates: 48°51′37″N 2°20′15″E / 48.860395, 2.337599

The Louvre (French: Musée du Louvre), in Paris, France, is one of the world's most visited art museums, an historic monument, and a national symbol.^[2][3] The collection contains nearly 35,000 pieces displayed over the structure's 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft).^[4] The museum is on the Right Bank, in the neighborhood referred to as the 1st arrondissement and lies between the Seine River and the Rue de Rivoli. The Louvre is slightly askew of the axe historique, a long architectural straightaway that cuts through the centre of Paris.^[5]

The structure, begun in 1190 CE, originated as a fortress during the Capetian dynasty under the reign of Philip II and has been used as a residence.^[6][7] Used as an art depository from the time of François I, it was opened to the public after the French Revolution. At that time, the Louvre was intended to symbolize the progress of Liberty and was a destination for many of the spoils brought home by Napoleon's victorious armies. In the 20th century, the structure was renovated to match modern museum standards during the Grand Louvre project.^[6]

The museum is divided among eight curatorial departments, contains some of the world's most celebrated artworks and displays almost every genre of Western Art. In addition, the collection displays pieces of Egyptian, Oriental, and Islamic origin. Notable works include 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.^[6]

[edit] History

[edit] Le Palais du Louvre

The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible^[5]

Main article: Palais du Louvre

From 1190 to 1202 CE, during the reign of Philip Augustus, construction commenced on a fortress that would become the Louvre.^[8][9][10] It is unknown if this was the first building to be constructed on that spot, although contemporary references suggest a predecessor.^[7][9] The origin of the name Louvre is murky. The historian Mary Knight Potter contends that King Philip II referred to the structure as L'Œuvre (the masterpiece) because it was the largest building in 13th-century Paris. Henri Sauval proposes a derivation from leouar (castle, fortress) which he claims to have found in an "old Latin-Saxon glossary" while Henry Sutherland Edwards posits rouvre (oak), referring to the building's location in a forest.^[5][9]

The only portion still extant from the medieval period is the foundation of the southeast corner.^[5] Additions were completed notably by Charles V, who in 1358 built a defensive wall around the fortress and converted the Louvre into a royal residence.^[10] In 1546, Francois I removed the medieval keep and decided to modernize the structure in line with Renaissance stylistic preferences and employed architect Pierre Lescot and sculptor Jean Goujon.^[11] Lescot built the Pavillon de Roi, razed the western wing and replaced it with a two-story structure, and installed the Salle des Caryatides on the ground floor. The latter room is given its name from the caryatids sculpted by Goujon which are based on Greek/Roman works. Working with the woodcarver Scibec de Carpi, Lescot also added a ceiling to King Henry II's royal chamber, which was revolutionary compared with the established beam-style.^[12] These modifications combine "classicism and traditional French architecture" and are considered prime examples of the French Renaissance style.^[13][14][15]

In 1564, Henri II's wife, Catherine de'Medici directed the building of the Palais des Tuileries, which faced the Louvre. She intended that a gallery connect through the courtyard between the two palaces, but this was not built until later. In 1594, King Henry IV began construction on his "Grand Design", a renovation of the Louvre intended to remove remnants of the medieval fortress. The plan included the 460-metre (1,509 ft) Grande Galerie, a linkage between the Pavillon de Flore, the Louvre, and the Palais des Tuileries. The gallery was completed by 1610, when the Pavillon de Flore was covered. However, Henry IV was stabbed that year and his Grand Design lay unfinished.^[13][14][16]

In 1624, the classical architects Le Vau and Lemercier completed the design of the Cour Carrée under Louis XIII and Louis XIV reigns, quadrupling the size of the old courtyard.^[17] The eponymous Le Vau-Le Mercier Wing was also finished and is still visible today. In 1659, Louis XIV instigated a new phase of production under Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and painter Charles le Brun. Le Nôtre was charged with creating the Tuileries garden in the courtyard between the palaces; Le Vau finished work on the Tuileries palace, and Le Brun completed the decoration of the Gallerie d'Apollon.^[13] Progress on the building slowed after Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence. Although the pace diminished, a colonnade was constructed along the eastern side, and a facade was built on the south. The royal household's move to Versaille allowed the Louvre to be used as residence for many painters and artists; however, this transformation was not finished until the French Revolution.^[9][14]

[edit] 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 until the French Revolution that the royal collection opened to the public and became the "Muséum central des Arts".^[9][18] On 10 August 1792, the Bourbon monarchy collapsed, Louis XVI was imprisoned, and all art in the royal collection was declared to be national property (biens nationaux). The National Assembly, deciding that the collection had been weakened by being "dispersed" and that the matter was "urgent", turned the palace into a museum.^[18] The royal collection was combined with Church property, which had been appropriated by the State in 1789.^[13] With legal authorization given on 6 May 1791, the marquis de Marigny and his successor, the comte d'Angiviller, began developing the Louvre's permanent collection.^[18]

The museum opened to the public on 10 August 1793, with much fanfare, because the national artistic display was seen as a demonstration of revolutionary ideals. That works once reserved for the ancien régime were viewable by the public was important to the nascent republic as a "benefit of Liberty".^[18] The museum's opening was hectic, as artists lived in residence, and works were placed randomly throughout the old palace. However, the republic dedicated a considerable sum, 100,000 livres per year, to help the institution expand its collection with works from abroad.^[5] From 1794 onwards, France's victorious revolutionary armies brought back increasing numbers of pieces from across Europe, aiming to establish the Louvre as a major European museum and a symbol of revolutionary progress.^[18] Significant additions to the young collection were masterpieces from Italy, including the Laocoon and his sons and the Apollo Belvedere from the papal collection, which arrived in Paris in July 1798 with much pomp and ceremony.^[9][18][13]

[edit] 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]

During Napoleon's European conquests, the museum augmented its collection, and Napoleon appointed its first director, Dominique Vivant, baron de Denon, after the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801. In tribute, the museum was renamed the "Musée Napoléon" in 1803, and many works were added to the collection from countries such as Spain, Austria, Holland, and Italy. These were often met by gleeful Parisians, who escorted the works to the museum along the quais of the Seine.^[5]

After the French defeat at Waterloo, the former owners of many acquisitions sought their return. The administrators of the Louvre were loathe to comply and hid some of the works in their private collections. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help in making the French comply, and many of 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.^[5]

[edit] 19th century after Napoleon

The Venus de Milo was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of Louis XVIII.

After the fall of Napoleon, during the Restoration (1814–30), the monarchies of Louis XVIII and Charles X together added 135 pieces at a cost of 720,000 francs. This was considerably 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 neglected by the monarchy and ordered the completion of the Galerie d'Apollon, the Salon Carré, and the Grande Galerie, additions which face the Seine.^[5]

On 2 December 1851, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who had been elected President of the Republic, staged a coup d'état by dissolving the National Assembly and ushering in the Second French Empire. Between 1852 and 1870, the French economy grew; the museum added 20,000 new pieces to its collections, and the link to the Tuileries was completed via the Pavillon de Flore.^[5][13] Several thousand artworks, including 200 paintings and many bronzes and sculptures arrived after the acquisition of the Campana museum. These additions included the Sarcophagus of a Married Couple, jewelry, and various maiolicas.^[13] Further purchases or gifts of 133 more works and 256 pieces given to the institution were styled the Collection Lacaze. These included works by Rembrandt such as Bathsheba at Her Bath.^[13] This period of rapid growth continued into the early 20th century, when it became evident that the structure was too small for the amount of work displayed.^[5]

[edit] Third Republic to present

The French Third Republic began after the demise of the Second Empire and the Franco Prussian War of 1870. 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 Pieta of Villeneuve lès Avignon, and in 1863 the sculpture Winged Victory of Samothrace was uncovered in an archaeological expedition in the Aegean Sea. This particular piece, despite being heavily damaged, is considered one of the Louvre's most valuable pieces and has been on prominent display since 1884.^[5][13]

This growth period was disrupted by the First and Second World Wars. During both, many of the structure's most valuable pieces were hidden, specifically the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. After the wars, the museum was unable to acquire many significant works, with exceptions of Georges de la Tour's Saint Thomas and the collection of prints and drawings given via the donation of Baron Edmond de Rothschild's (1845–1934) collection in 1935. This donation contained more than 40,000 engravings, nearly 3,000 drawings and 500 illustrated books.^[13]

The Louvre today is a monument and comprehensive museum. The structure contains elements of the medieval beginnings, Renaissance additions, renovations in neoclassical style, and recent modifications such as elevators.^[6] The contemporary Louvre is also notable in popular culture, having been a point of interest in the movie The Da Vinci Code.^[20]

[edit] Axe historique

The Louvre is not aligned upon the axe historique, as evidenced by the image above, notice how the garden surrounding the destroyed Tuileries palace is aligned upon the axis while the Louvre courtyard is not.

Main article: Axe historique

The destroyed Tuileries Palace, once connected to the Louvre, lay at the eastern end of the Axe historique (Historic Axis), an 8-kilometre (5 mi) long straightaway that begins at La Défense and includes the Champs Élysées and Arc de Triomphe. The axis was begun in 1572 when architect André Le Nôtre planted a line of trees from the Louvre courtyard to the Tuileries.^[21] In 1871, when the Paris Commune burned the palace to the ground, it became possible to see that the Louvre was not aligned on the long axis. The museum had appeared to be along the same sight line as the Champs Élysées, but after destruction of the palace, it was clear that it was not.^[22]

[edit] Pyramid and Grand Louvre

Main article: Louvre Pyramid

French President Francois Mitterand proposed to enhance the Louvre in 1983. His plans included the renovation of the building and moving the Finance Ministry elsewhere, permitting display throughout. I.M. Pei, a Chinese-American architect, was awarded the project and proposed a glass pyramid for the central courtyard, which 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..."^[6] The pyramid and underground lobby, which enclose the entrance area, was inaugurated on October 15, 1988.^[6]There has been some debate over the years due to the fact that the creation of the glass pyramid was made with six-hundred and sixty six panes of glass.

Courtyard of Museum of Louvre, at night, with the Pyramid prominently displayed at centre

[edit] Departments and organization

The Musée du Louvre's collection contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art drawn from eight curatorial departments. More than 60,600 square metres (652,000 sq ft) of exhibition space is dedicated to the permanent collection.^[23] According to the 2005 annual report, the collection includes 11,900 paintings, the second largest holding of Western pictorial art in the world after the State Hermitage in Russia. Six thousand paintings are on permanent display, and 5,900 are in storage. Besides paintings, the Louvre exhibits include sculptures, objets d'art, and archaeological finds.^[5][13] Oversight of the property is carried out by nearly 2,000 Louvre employees led by Henri Loyrette, the director.^[24]

[edit] Decorative arts

The Diadem of the Duchess of Angoulême contains gold, gilt silver, 40 emeralds and 1031 diamonds. The crown matches an emerald necklace made by Paul-Nicolas Menière in 1814 and is housed in the Decorative Arts department.

The decorative arts, or objects d'art, department contains thousands of works spanning a period from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The collection began through appropriation of royal property after the revolution, mostly from Louis XIV, 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.^[13][6] Among the budding collection's most prized works were pietre dure vases and bronzes, and in fact the decorative arts collection was initially part of the sculpture department. Soon, the acquisition of the Durand collection in 1825 augmented the Louvre collection with "ceramics, enamels, and stained glass", and 800 additional pieces were given by Pierre Revoil. The onset of Romanticism during the second half of the 18th century rekindled interest in Renaissance and Medieval artwork, and the Sauvageot donation expanded the department's holdings with nearly 1,500 middle age and faience works. The acquisition of the Campana collection in 1862 added gold jewelry and majolicas, mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries.^[6][25]

The department's pieces are displayed primarily on the first floor of the Richelieu Wing and in the Apollo Gallery, named by painter Charles Le Brun, who was commissioned by Louis XIV, the "Sun King", to decorate the space with his theme, the sun. The medieval collection notably contains the coronation crown of Louis XIV, Charles V's sceptre, and the 12th century porphyry vase.^[26] The Renaissance art holdings include Giambologna's bronze Nessus and Deianira and the tapestry Maximillian's Hunt, often cited.^[13] From later periods, highlights include Madame de Pompadour's Sevres vase collection and the Napoleon III's royal apartments.^[13]

[edit] 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".^[6]

The Egyptian antiquities department holds more than 50,000 pieces from the Nile civilizations, dating from 4,000 BCE, to the 4th century CE. The renowned holdings attest to 19th century French Egyptology and include works of Ancient Egypt; the Middle Kingdom; the New Kingdom; the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods; and Coptic art.^[26] Egyptian artifacts from the royal collection predated the department and Napoleon, but European interest in Egypt was augmented by Napoléon's 1798 expeditionary trip. Dominique Vivant, a future director of the Louvre, then known as the Musée Napoléon, participated in the expedition.^[6][27] The department opened in 1826 after a decree by King Charles X, impressed by the holdings of Rosetta Stone translator Jean-François Champollion, who was appointed director. The initial collection expanded with 2,500 works from Durand's holdings and 4,000 from the "Egyptian Consul to Alexandria".^[6] 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.^[27]

The collection, housed primarily in the Cour Carée and Denon Wing includes art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, and artifacts and consists of 20 rooms arranged chronologically and guarded by the Large Sphinx at the entrance.^[6] Apart from documentation of Egyptian life, containing tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments, and weapons, the collection draws from all periods of ancient Egypt, permitting an overview from origin to the 4th century CE. Significant holdings from the Ancient period include the Gebel-el Arak knife from 3400 BCE, The Seated Scribe, and the Head of King Djedefre. The Middle Kingdom shows movement from realism to idealization and is exemplified by the sandstone statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer.^[26] The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are profoundly deep, but the statue of goddess Nephthys and the depiction of the goddess Hathor on limestone are cited as exemplifying the sentiment of the New Kingdom.^[26][27]

[edit] Greek, Etruscan, and Roman

A marble female head dating from the second century 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.^[6]

The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from throughout the Mediterranean Basin and dating from the Neolithic to the 6th century CE.^[28] The collection is encylopedic, containing examples from the early Cycladic period (notably by 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.^[26] As with the Egyptian collection, this department began with appropriated royal art, some of which had been acquired under Francois I in the Salle des Caryatides.^[6] 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.^[6][28]

The vast collection makes selection of notable works difficult.^[26] From the archaic, the limestone Lady of Auxerre and Hera of Samos highlight two trends as the austerity of the Lady stands in contrast to the "cylindrical delicacy" of Hera.^[26] After the 4th century BCE, focus on the human form increased and is exemplified by the Borghese Gladiator, although 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.^[26][6] In the galleries paralleling the Seine, much of the expansive collection of Roman sculpture is displayed.^[28] 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.^[26] 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.^[26]

[edit] Islamic art

Human-headed winged bulls and reliefs from Khorsabad

The Islamic art collection, the youngest department in the museum, contains works spanning "thirteen centuries and three continents".^[29] These exhibits include more than 5,000 works and 1,000 shards, and show examples of ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures.^[30] The collection was originally part of the decorative arts department but became a separate department in 2003. The holdings include the Pyxide d'al-Mughira, an ivory box dating from 968 CE from Andalusia, and the Baptistery of Saint-Louis, an engraved brass basin from the 13th or 14 century Mamluk period that was transferred to the museum from the royal collection in 1793.^[6][29] The collection also contains three pages of the Shahnameh, an epic poem by Ferdowsi written entirely in Persian, and a Syrian metalwork named the Barberini Vase.^[30]

[edit] Near Eastern antiquities

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

The second youngest Louvre department, which contains the Near Eastern antiquities collection, was created in 1881. Presenting a broad overview of early Near Eastern civilization, it displays works from the region's "first settlements", before the arrival of Islam.^[26][31] The section's development corresponds with the growth of archaeological work in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Iran, beginning notably with Paul-Émile Botta's 1843 expedition to Khorsabad from which the Louvre's "Assyrian Museuem" was founded after the discovery of Sargon II's palace.^[6] The early holdings were augmented by Claude Schafeffer's excavations in Ras-Shamra and Andre Parrot's work in Mari, Syria.^[26]

The holdings representing the Mesopotamian region of Sumer and the city of Akkad are particularly deep. The area is illuminated with monuments like the Prince of Lagash's Stele of the Vultures from 2,450 BCE and the stele erected under Naram-Suen, King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the Zagros Mountains. One of the most renowned pieces is the Code of Hammurabi, discovered in 1901. The 2.25-metre (7.38 ft) basalt stele displays Babylonian Law, in order that no man could plead ignorance.^[26][31]

[edit] Paintings

The paintings department currently comprises more than 6,000 works from the 13th century through 1848, with significant numbers of French paintings, more than 1,200 Northern European pieces, and a notable Italian collection.^[6] Although not the largest in the world, the holdings are perhaps the "most complete" collection of Western pictorial art.^[26] 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 museum structure as a depository for painted works began with François I, who envisioned a collection, named the Cabinet of Pictures, that would rival those in Italy.^[26] To achieve this, the king acquired works from Italian masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo and asked Leonardo Da Vinci to attend to his court.^[32]

After the French Revolution, these works formed the nucleus of the nascent Louvre. The collection continued to grow throughout the years of the First French Empire during Napoleon's European Wars. 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 newly formed museum. French works and art from Northern Europe are in the Richelieu wing and Cour Carrée, while Spanish and Italian paintings are on the first floor of the Denon wing.^[32]

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

Nearly two-thirds of the works are drawn from the French style, and the sheer size makes selecting standouts difficult. Particularly exemplifying the French School are the "grandiose" 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 Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, commemorating the July Revolution.^[26][6] Northern European notables include Johannes Vermeer's The Lacemaker and The Astronmer; Caspar David Friedrich's Tree of Crows; and Rembrandt's The Supper at Emmaus, Bathsheba at Her Bath; and The Slaughtered Ox. The Italianate paintings, some drawn from Francois 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.^[6]

[edit] Prints and drawings

The prints and drawings collection is dedicated to the museum's compilation of works upon a paper medium and numbers more than 100,000 items.^[6] Originally, the majority of pieces came from the 8,600 works held in Royal Collection, the Cabinet du Roi, and were augmented through state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200 works from Fillipo Baldinucci's collection in 1806, and donations.^[6][33] As with the paintings department, the collection also grew from military campaigns during Napoleon's reign.^[33] The first showing of the collection occurred on 5 August 1797, when the department was opened for public viewing.^[26] The large collection is now organized into three sections, the core Cabinet du Roi with new additions; a grouping of 14,000 royal engraved-copper stamps for printing; and the donations of Edmond de Rothschild, which include 40,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 5,000 illustrated books. The vast holdings are now displayed in the Pavillon de Flore, but because of the fragility of the paper medium and the works' sensitivity to light, only a small portion are displayed at one time.^[26][34]

[edit] 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.^[35] 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 works did not occur until 1824 except for Michelangelo's Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave.^[6] Initially, the collection was relatively small, with about 100 works, because of the government's focus on Versaille. 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.^[6] 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.^[35][6] 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.^[35]

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, French sculpture grew more delicate and restrained because of the Renaissance influence, as can be seen Jean Goujon's bas-reliefs, and Germain Pilon's Descent from the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. The 17th and18th 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.^[26][6]

[edit] Controversies

The Louvre has been involved in many controversies, notably those surrounding the architectural additions completed during the Grand Louvre project and the restitution of cultural property. Regarding the latter, debate surrounds the artworks and other cultural property seized by the occupying forces of the Second World War. After the end of the war, more than 60,000 articles were returned to France. Of those, nearly 2,000 objects that did not have clear ownership, many claimed by Israelis and Jews, were retained by French museums, including the Louvre. In 1997, Prime Minister Alain Juppé set up the Mattéoli Commission, named after concentration camp survivor Jean Mattéoli, to investigate, and "according to the government the Louvre continues to hold 678 pieces of artwork."^[36] 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 the 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.^[37]

[edit] Satellite museums

[edit] Lens

Main article: Louvre-Lens

To relieve the crowded Paris Louvre, increase total museum visits, and improve the economy of the industrial north, French officials decided in 2004 to build a satellite museum on the site of an abandoned coal pit in the former mining town of Lens.^[38] 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.^[38] The architectural team of Sanaa of Tokyo, under the direction of Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, was awarded the project.^[39]

[edit] 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 (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) 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.^[40]

[edit] Location and access

A map of the Louvre in the Ier 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 Ier 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.^[41]

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 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.^[41]

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.

[edit] See also

• List of works in the Louvre
• List of museums in Paris
• Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France
• American Friends of the Louvre
• Musée de la Mode et du Textile

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Louvre

• Official Louvre website (English) (Requires Flash)
• Louvre Museum
• Extensive Photo Gallery from The Louvre – Photos of almost all the sculpture, many of the paintings and Objects d'Art
• General views of Le Louvre
• Fullscreen Virtual Tour by Virtualsweden
• Excerpt of Michael T. Cannell's book on I.M. Pei – discusses controversy over Pei's pyramid.
• Antiquities of the Louvre
• Official École du Louvre website (Requires Flash)
• Photos of Louvre museum
• panoramic views of the entrance pyramid
• Louvre museum: Map, contact, price, opening hours, user reviews, etc.

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