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{{Short description|Art museum in Paris, France}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}
{{About|the museum|the building|Louvre Palace|other uses}}
{{Infobox museum
| name            = Musée du Louvre
| logo            = Louvre Museum icon 1.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| image           = Louvre Museum (27128035747).jpg
| caption         = The [[Louvre Pyramid]] on the Cour Napoléon with the Sully Pavilion and Denon Wing of the museum in the background
| former_name     = 
| established     = {{Start date and age|1793|8|10|df=yes}}
| dissolved       = 
| location        = Musée du Louvre, 75001, [[Paris]], France
| type            = [[Art museum]] and [[historic site]]
| collection_size = 615,797 in 2019<ref name="rapport2019"/> (35,000 on display)<ref name=CollectionSize>{{Cite web|url=https://museums.eu/museum/details/702|title=Louvre Museum|website=museums.eu}}</ref>
| visitors        = 8.7 million (2024)<ref>[ Louvre press release, 8 January 2025</ref>
* Ranked 1st nationally
* [[List of most-visited art museums|Ranked 1st globally]]
| director        = [[Laurence des Cars]]
| curator         = Marie-Laure de Rochebrune
| publictransit   = *[[Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre station|Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre]] {{rint|paris|m|size=15}} {{rint|paris|m|1|size=15}} {{rint|paris|m|7|size=15}}
* [[Louvre–Rivoli station|Louvre–Rivoli]] {{rint|paris|m|size=15}} {{rint|paris|m|1|size=15}}
| website         = {{Official website}}
| mapframe-zoom   = 15
}}
The '''Louvre''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|l|uː|v|.|r|ə}} {{respell|LOOV|rə}},<ref>{{cite dictionary|date=2012 |title=LOUVRE Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/louvre |dictionary=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins Publishers]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202051318/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/louvre |archive-date=2 December 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2025}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|alsous|ˈ|l|uː|v|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Louvre.wav}} {{respell|LOOV}}<ref>{{cite dictionary|date=2010 |title=LOUVRE definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/louvre |dictionary=[[Webster's New World College Dictionary]] |edition=4 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308050255/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/louvre |archive-date=8 March 2023 |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2025}}.</ref>}} or the '''Louvre Museum''' ({{Langx|fr|link=no|Musée du Louvre}} {{IPA|fr|myze dy luvʁ||Fr-Musée du Louvre.oga}}), is a national [[art museum]] in [[Paris]], France, and the most visited museum in the world.<ref>{{cite web | title=Paris Louvre most visited museum in the world | date=3 January 2012 | url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/visiting-france/20120103-paris-louvre-most-visited-museum-world }}</ref> It is located on the [[Rive Droite|Right Bank]] of the [[Seine]] in the city's [[1st arrondissement of Paris|1st arrondissement]] (district) and home to some of the most [[Western canon|canonical]] works of [[Art of Europe|Western art]], including the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'', ''[[Venus de Milo]]'', and ''[[Winged Victory of Samothrace|Winged Victory]]''. The museum is housed in the [[Louvre Palace]], originally built in the late 12th to 13th&nbsp;century under [[Philip II of France|Philip II]]. Remnants of the [[Medieval Louvre]] fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] converted it into the primary residence of the [[French kings]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louvre Museum |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Louvre-Museum |website=Inexhibit |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>

The building was redesigned and 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 ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louvre Website – Chateau to Museum, 1672 and 1692 |url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/detail_repere.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226981&CURRENT_LLV_PERIODE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226961&CURRENT_LLV_CHRONOLOGIE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226610&CURRENT_LLV_REPERE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226981&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500938&bmLocale=en&leftPosition=-300 |publisher=Louvre.fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615182627/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/detail_repere.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226981&CURRENT_LLV_PERIODE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226961&CURRENT_LLV_CHRONOLOGIE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226610&CURRENT_LLV_REPERE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226981&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500938&bmLocale=en&leftPosition=-300 |archive-date=15 June 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> In 1692, the building was occupied by the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]]|italic=no}} and the [[Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture]], which in 1699 held the first of a series of [[Salon (gathering)|salons]]. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louvre Website – Chateau to Museum 1692 |url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/detail_repere.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226982&CURRENT_LLV_PERIODE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226961&CURRENT_LLV_CHRONOLOGIE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226610&CURRENT_LLV_REPERE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226982&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500938&bmLocale=en&leftPosition=-300 |publisher=Louvre.fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615182640/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/detail_repere.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226982&CURRENT_LLV_PERIODE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226961&CURRENT_LLV_CHRONOLOGIE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226610&CURRENT_LLV_REPERE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226982&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500938&bmLocale=en&leftPosition=-300 |archive-date=15 June 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> During the [[French Revolution]], the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces.  The palace and exhibition space was expanded in the 19th century and again in the 20th.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537&nbsp;paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed from 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under [[Napoleon]], after the [[Napoleonic looting of art]] in Europe, Egypt, and Syria, and the museum was renamed ''Musée Napoléon'', but after Napoleon's abdication, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} The collection was further increased during the reigns of [[Louis XVIII]] and [[Charles X of France|Charles X]], and during the [[Second French Empire]] the museum gained 20,000&nbsp;pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]]. The collection is divided into eight departments: [[Art of ancient Egypt|Egyptian Antiquities]]; [[Near Eastern archaeology|Near Eastern Antiquities]]; [[Greek art|Greek]], [[Etruscan art|Etruscan]], and [[Roman art|Roman Antiquities]]; [[Islamic art|Islamic Art]]; Sculpture; [[Decorative arts|Decorative Arts]]; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

The Musée du Louvre contains approximately 500,000&nbsp;objects<ref name=Numberobjects>{{cite web|url=https://mini-site.louvre.fr/trimestriel/2023/RA_2022/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf |title=Rapport d'activité 2022 |website=Louvre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215162405/https://mini-site.louvre.fr/trimestriel/2023/RA_2022/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf |archive-date= Dec 15, 2023 }}</ref> and displays 35,000&nbsp;works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than {{convert|60600|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} dedicated to the permanent collection.<ref name=CollectionSize/> The Louvre exhibits sculptures, [[objet d'art|objets d'art]], paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. At any given point in time, approximately 38,000&nbsp;objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of {{Convert|72,735|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}, making it the [[List of largest museums|largest museum in the world]]. It received 8.7 million visitors in 2024,  ranking it as the most-visited art museum, and most-visited museum of any category, in the world.<ref>"The Art Newspaper", March 2025 </ref>

== Location and visiting ==
[[File:Paris - Orthophotographie - 2018 - Palais du Louvre 02.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the [[Tuileries Gardens]] on the left, with the Louvre Palace on the right (2018)]]

The Louvre museum is located inside the Louvre Palace, in the centre of Paris, adjacent to the [[Tuileries Gardens]]. The two nearest [[Paris Metro|Métro]] stations are [[Louvre–Rivoli station|Louvre–Rivoli]] and [[Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre station|Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre]], the latter having a direct underground access to the [[Carrousel du Louvre]] commercial mall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/venir.jsp |title=How to get here |work=Louvre Museum |access-date=28 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921232331/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/venir.jsp |archive-date=21 September 2008 }}</ref>

Before the [[Grand Louvre]] overhaul of the late 1980s and 1990s, the Louvre had several street-level entrances, most of which are now permanently closed. Since 1993, the museum's main entrance has been the underground space under the [[Louvre Pyramid]], or ''Hall Napoléon'', which can be accessed from the Pyramid itself, from the underground Carrousel du Louvre, or (for authorised visitors) from the {{lang|fr|passage Richelieu}} connecting to the nearby [[rue de Rivoli]]. A secondary entrance at the {{lang|fr|Porte des Lions}}, near the western end of the Denon Wing, was created in 1999 but is not permanently open.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Menon |first=Lakshmi |date=22 July 2019 |title=Which Louvre Entrance Suits You Best {{!}} All About The 4 Louvre Entrances |url=https://www.headout.com/blog/louvre-entrances/ |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=Headout Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

The museum's entrance conditions have varied over time. Prior to the 1850s, artists and foreign visitors had privileged access. At the time of initial opening in 1793, the [[French Republican calendar]] had imposed ten-day "weeks" ({{langx|fr|link=no|décades}}), the first six days of which were reserved for visits by artists and foreigners and the last three for visits by the general public.{{R|Rosenberg|page=37}} In the early 1800s, after the seven-day week had been reinstated, the general public had only four hours of museum access per week, between 2pm and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.<ref name=Malgouyres>{{cite book|author=Philippe Malgouyres |publisher=Réunion des Musées Nationaux |title=Le Musée Napoléon |date=1999}}</ref>{{rp|8}} In 1824, a new regulation allowed public access only on Sundays and holidays; the other days the museum was open only to artists and foreigners, except for closure on Mondays.{{R|Rosenberg|page=39}} That changed in 1855 when the museum became open to the public all days except Mondays.{{R|Rosenberg|page=40}} It was free until 1922, when an entrance fee was introduced except on Sundays.{{R|Rosenberg|page=42}} Since its post-[[World War II]] reopening in 1946,<ref name=Rosenberg>{{cite book|author=Pierre Rosenberg |title=Dictionnaire amoureux du Louvre |publisher=Plon |location=Paris |date=2007}}</ref>{{rp|43}} the Louvre has been closed on Tuesdays, and habitually open to the public the rest of the week except for some holidays.

The use of cameras and video recorders is permitted inside, but flash photography is forbidden.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museum rules |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/visit/museum-rules |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=Le Louvre |language=en}}</ref>

Beginning in 2012, [[Nintendo 3DS]] portable video game systems were used as the official museum audio guides. The following year, the museum contracted Nintendo to create a 3DS-based audiovisual visitor guide.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=2013-11-27 |title=Nintendo's 3DS Louvre guide released on eShop |language=en-gb |work=[[Eurogamer]] |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-27-nintendos-3ds-louvre-guide-released-on-eshop |access-date=2023-06-30 |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907183929/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-27-nintendos-3ds-louvre-guide-released-on-eshop |url-status=live }}</ref> Entitled ''Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre'', it contains over 30 hours of audio and over 1,000 photographs of artwork and the museum itself, including 3D views,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Louvre Guide for Nintendo 3DS |url=http://louvreguide.nintendo.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220023445/http://louvreguide.nintendo.com/ |archive-date=February 20, 2016 |website=Nintendo}}</ref> and also provides navigation thanks to [[differential GPS]] transmitters installed within the museum.<ref name="netburn">{{Cite news |last=Netburn |first=Deborah |date=April 16, 2012 |title=How the Louvre and Nintendo are reinventing the museum audio tour |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-apr-16-la-fi-tn-louvre-nintendo-3ds-audiotour-20120416-story.html |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630211748/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-apr-16-la-fi-tn-louvre-nintendo-3ds-audiotour-20120416-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The upgraded 2013 Louvre guide was also announced in a special [[Nintendo Direct]] featuring [[Satoru Iwata]] and [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] demonstrating it at the museum,<ref>{{cite AV media |first1=Satoru |last1=Iwata |author-link1=Satoru Iwata |first2=Shigeru |last2=Miyamoto |author-link2=Shigeru Miyamoto |title=Nintendo Direct – Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WavLP_3ew-A |type=Video presentation |location=Louvre, Paris|via=[[YouTube]] |publisher=[[Nintendo]] |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=27 November 2013 |language=ja, en}}</ref> and 3DS XLs pre-loaded with the guide are available to rent at the museum.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Warr |first=Philippa |date=December 2, 2013 |title=Nintendo 3DS Louvre guide escapes region locking |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/02/louvre-3ds-guide |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425111028/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/02/louvre-3ds-guide |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref> The 3DS Louvre guide was scheduled to be retired in September 2025 and will be replaced by a different guide system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagues |first=Alana |date=2025-05-02 |title=Louvre Says Au Revoir To Nintendo 3DS Audio Guides |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/05/louvre-says-au-revoir-to-nintendo-3ds-audio-guides |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Before the museum ===
[[File:Donjon chateau louvre.JPG|thumb|Below-ground portions of the medieval Louvre are still visible.<ref name=Mignot>{{cite book| author=Claude Mignot |title=The Pocket Louvre: A Visitor's Guide to 500 Works |publisher=Abbeville Press |location=New York |isbn=0-7892-0578-5 |year=1999 |oclc=40762767 |url=https://archive.org/details/pocketlouvrevisi00mign}}</ref>{{rp|32}}]]
{{Main|Louvre Palace}}
The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, was begun by [[Philip II of France|King Philip II]] in the late 12th century to protect the city from the attack from the west, as the [[Kingdom of England]] still held [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] at the time. Remnants of the [[Medieval Louvre]] are still visible in the crypt.{{R|Mignot|page=32}} Whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, and it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower.<ref name="Edwards" />

The origins of the name "Louvre" are somewhat disputed. According to the authoritative ''[[Grand Larousse encyclopédique]]'', the name derives from an association with a [[wolf hunting]] den (via Latin: ''lupus'', lower Empire: ''lupara'').<ref name="Edwards">Edwards,&nbsp;pp.&nbsp;193–94</ref><ref>In Larousse ''Nouveau Dictionnaire étymologique et historique'', Librairie Larousse, Paris, 1971, p. 430: ***'''loup''' 1080, Roland (''leu'', forme conservée dans ''à la queue leu leu'', ''Saint Leu'', etc.); du lat. lupus; loup est refait sur le fém. louve, où le *v* a empêché le passage du *ou* à *eu* (cf. Louvre, du lat. pop. lupara)*** the etymology of the word ''louvre'' is from ''lupara'', feminine (pop. Latin) form of ''lupus''.</ref> In the 7th century, [[Burgundofara]] (also known as Saint Fare), abbess in Meaux, is said to have given part of her "Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris" to a monastery,<ref>In Lebeuf (Abbé), Fernand Bournon, ''Histoire de la ville et de tout le diocèse de Paris par l'abbé Lebeuf'', Vol. 2, Paris: Féchoz et Letouzey, 1883, p. 296: "Louvre".</ref> even though it is doubtful that this land corresponded exactly to the present site of the Louvre.

The Louvre Palace has been subject to numerous renovations since its construction. In the 14th&nbsp;century, [[Charles V of France|Charles V]] converted the building from its military role into a residence. In 1546, [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] started its rebuilding in [[French Renaissance architecture|French Renaissance]] style.<ref name="Edwards198">Edwards,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;198</ref> After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, construction works slowed to a halt. The royal move away from Paris resulted in the Louvre being used as a residence for artists, under Royal patronage.<ref name="Edwards198" />{{R|Mignot|page=42}}<ref>Nore,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;274</ref> For example, four generations of craftsmen-artists from the Boulle family were granted Royal patronage and resided in the Louvre.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jean Philippe Boulle, Son of André-Charles Boulle |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O185910/design-for-a-boulle-jean-philippe/ |date=21 July 2019 |publisher=V&A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Death of André-Charles Boulle |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63480935/f148.image.r=Boulle?rk=128756;0 |date=March 1732 |publisher=Mercure de France}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Masters of marquetry in the 17th century: Boulle |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/getty-museum/getty-decorative-arts/a/masters-of-marquetry-in-the-17th-century-boulle |publisher=Khanacademy |access-date=30 November 2017 |archive-date=8 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308163544/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/getty-museum/getty-decorative-arts/a/masters-of-marquetry-in-the-17th-century-boulle |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Meanwhile, the collections of the Louvre originated in the acquisitions of paintings and other artworks by the monarchs of the [[House of France]]. At the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]], Francis collected art that would later be part of the Louvre's art collections, including [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]''.<ref name="Mona"/>

The Cabinet du Roi consisted of seven rooms west of the Galerie d'Apollon on the upper floor of the remodelled Petite Galerie. Many of the king's paintings were placed in these rooms in 1673, when it became an art gallery, accessible to certain art lovers as a kind of museum. In 1681, after the court moved to Versailles, 26 of the paintings were transferred there, somewhat diminishing the collection, but it is mentioned in Paris guide books from 1684 on, and was shown to ambassadors from [[Siam]] in 1686.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert W. Berger |date=1999 |title=Public Access to Art in Paris: A Documentary History from the Middle Ages to 1800 |location=University Park |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |pages=83–86}}</ref>

By the mid-18th&nbsp;century there were proposals to create a public gallery in the Louvre. Art critic [[Étienne La Font de Saint-Yenne]] in 1747 published a call for a display of the royal collection. On 14 October 1750, [[Louis XV]] decided on 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 [[Charles François Paul Le Normant de Tournehem|Le Normant de Tournehem]] and the [[Abel François Poisson|Marquis de Marigny]] for public viewing of the "king's paintings" (''Tableaux du Roy'') on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Luxembourg gallery included [[Andrea del Sarto]]'s ''Charity'' and works by [[Raphael]]; [[Titian]]; [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]]; [[Rembrandt]]; [[Nicolas Poussin|Poussin]] or [[Anthony van Dyck|Van Dyck]]. It closed in 1780 as a result of the royal gift of the Luxembourg palace to the Count of Provence (the future king, [[Louis XVIII]]) by the king in 1778.<ref name="Nora 278" /> Under [[Louis XVI]], the idea of a royal museum in the Louvre came closer to fruition.<ref name="Carb 56">Carbonell, p.&nbsp;56</ref> The [[Charles-Claude Flahaut de la Billaderie, comte d'Angiviller|comte d'Angiviller]] broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed to convert the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}} of the Louvre – which at that time contained the ''[[Musée des Plans-Reliefs|plans-reliefs]]'' or 3D models of key fortified sites in and around France – into the "French Museum". Many design proposals were offered for the Louvre's renovation into a museum, without a final decision being made on them. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution.<ref name="Nora 278" />
{{clear}}

=== Revolutionary opening ===
The Louvre finally became a public museum during the French Revolution. In May 1791, the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]] declared that the Louvre would be "a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts".<ref name="Nora 278"/> On 10 August 1792, [[Louis XVI]] was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property. Because of fear of vandalism or theft, on 19 August, the National Assembly pronounced the museum's preparation urgent. In October, a committee to "preserve the national memory" began assembling the collection for display.<ref>Oliver,&nbsp;pp.&nbsp;21–22</ref>

[[File:Amor-Psyche-Canova-JBU02.JPG|thumb|right|[[Antonio Canova]]'s ''[[Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss]]'' was commissioned in 1787 and donated in 1824.<ref name="French">{{Cite web |title=French Sculpture 1800–1825, Canova |url=http://gallery.sjsu.edu/paris/the_academy/canova.htm |last1=Monaghan |first1=Sean M. |last2=Rodgers, Michael |year=2000 |website=19th Century Paris Project |publisher=School of Art and Design, San Jose State University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420173109/http://gallery.sjsu.edu/paris/the_academy/canova.htm |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=24 April 2008 }}</ref>]]

The museum opened on 10 August 1793, the first anniversary of the monarchy's demise, as ''Muséum central des Arts de la République''. The public was given free access on three days per week, which was "perceived as a major accomplishment and was generally appreciated".<ref>Oliver,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;35</ref> The collection showcased 537&nbsp;paintings and 184&nbsp;objects of art. Three-quarters were derived from the royal collections, the remainder from confiscated [[émigrés]] and [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] property (''[[biens nationaux]]'').<ref name="Alex 24" />{{R|Mignot|page=68-69}} To expand and organise the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000&nbsp;[[Livre tournois|livres]] per year.<ref name="Nora 278">Nora,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;278</ref> In 1794, France's revolutionary armies began bringing pieces from Northern Europe, augmented after the [[Treaty of Tolentino]] (1797) by works from the Vatican, such as the ''[[Laocoön and His Sons|Laocoön]]'' and ''[[Apollo Belvedere]]'', to establish the Louvre as a museum and as a "sign of popular sovereignty".<ref name="Alex 24" /><ref>McClellan,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;7</ref>

The early days were hectic. Privileged artists continued to live in residence, and the unlabelled paintings hung "frame to frame from floor to ceiling".<ref name="Alex 24">Alderson,&nbsp; pp. 24,&nbsp;25</ref> The museum closed in May 1796 due to structural deficiencies. It reopened on [[Bastille Day|14 July]] 1801, arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns.<ref name="Alex 24" /> On 15 August 1797, the [[Galerie d'Apollon]] was opened with an exhibition of drawings. Meanwhile, the Louvre's Gallery of Antiquity sculpture (''musée des Antiques''), with artefacts brought from Florence and the Vatican, had opened in November 1800 in [[Anne of Austria]]'s former summer apartment, located on the ground floor just below the Galerie d'Apollon. 

=== {{anchor|Musée Napoléon|Napoleon I}}Napoleonic era ===
{{see also|Napoleonic looting of art}}

On 19 November 1802, Napoleon appointed [[Vivant Denon]], a scholar and polymath who had participated in the [[French Invasion of Egypt (1798)|Egyptian campaign]] of 1798–1801, as the museum's first director, in preference to alternative contenders such as antiquarian [[Ennio Quirino Visconti]], painter [[Jacques-Louis David]], sculptor [[Antonio Canova]] and architects [[Léon Dufourny]] or [[Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine|Pierre Fontaine]].<ref>{{citation|journal=Grande Galerie – le Journal du Louvre |volume=55 |date=Summer 2021 |author=Vivien Richard |title=Quand Bonaparte nomme Denon |page=74}}</ref> On Denon's suggestion in July 1803, the museum itself was renamed ''Musée Napoléon''.<ref name=GBB>{{cite book|author=Geneviève Bresc |title=Mémoires du Louvre |publisher=Gallimard |date=1989 |location=Paris}}</ref>{{rp|79}}

The collection grew through successful military campaigns.{{R|Mignot|page=52}} Acquisitions were made of Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works, either as the result of [[war looting]] or formalised by treaties such as the [[Treaty of Tolentino]].<ref name="Alderson 25" /> At the end of Napoleon's First Italian Campaign in 1797, the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] was signed with [[Count Philipp von Cobenzl]] of the [[Austrian Monarchy]]. This treaty marked the completion of Napoleon's conquest of Italy and the end of the first phase of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. It compelled Italian cities to contribute pieces of art and heritage to Napoleon's "parades of spoils" through Paris before being put into the Louvre Museum.<ref name="Plant, p. 36">Plant, p. 36</ref> The [[Horses of Saint Mark]], which had adorned the basilica of San Marco in Venice after the sack of [[Constantinople]] in 1204, were brought to Paris where they were placed atop Napoleon's [[Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel]] in 1797.<ref name="Plant, p. 36" /> Under the Treaty of Tolentino, the two statues of the Nile and Tiber were taken to Paris from the Vatican in 1797, and were both kept in the Louvre until 1815. (The Nile was later returned to Rome,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Swetnam-Burland |first=Molly |date=2009 |title=Egypt Embodied: The Vatican Nile |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=113 |issue=3 |page=440 |doi=10.3764/aja.113.3.439 |jstor=20627596|s2cid=191377908 }}</ref> whereas the Tiber has remained in the Louvre to this day.) The despoilment of Italian churches and palaces outraged the Italians and their artistic and cultural sensibilities.<ref>Popkin, p. 88</ref>

After the French defeat at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]], the looted works' former owners sought their return. The Louvre's administrator, Denon, was loath to comply in absence of a treaty of restitution. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help, and many pieces were returned, though far from all.<ref name="Alderson 25">Alderson,&nbsp;p. 25</ref>{{R|Mignot|page=69}}<ref>For example, [[Andrea Mantegna|Mantegna]]'s ''Calvary'', [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]]'s ''The Wedding at Cana|The Marriage of Cana'', and Rogier van der Weyden's ''Annunciation'' were not returned.</ref> In 1815 [[Louis XVIII]] finally concluded agreements with the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] government<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Paolo Veronese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59chAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA741 |magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine |year = 1867|publisher=A. Dodd and A. Smith |issue=December 1867 |page=741}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Johns |first=Christopher M. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYponZ9FFGIC&pg=PA190 |title=Antonio Canova and the Politics of Patronage in Revolutionary and Napoleonic Europe |publisher=University of California Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0520212015 |page=190}}</ref> for the keeping of works such as Veronese's ''[[The Wedding at Cana (Veronese)|Wedding at Cana]]'' which was exchanged for a large [[Charles Le Brun|Le Brun]] or the repurchase of the [[Alessandro Albani|Albani]] collection.
{{clear}}

=== From 1815 to 1852 ===
[[File:MG-Paris-Aphrodite of Milos edited.jpg|right|thumb|upright|The ''[[Venus de Milo]]'' was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of [[Louis XVIII]].]]
For most of the 19th century, from [[Napoleon]]'s time to the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]], the Louvre and other national museums were managed under the monarch's [[civil list]] and thus depended much on the ruler's personal involvement. Whereas the most iconic collection remained that of paintings in the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}}, a number of other initiatives mushroomed in the vast building, named as if they were separate museums even though they were generally managed under the same administrative umbrella. Correspondingly, the museum complex was often referred to in the plural ("{{lang|fr|les musées du Louvre}}") rather than singular.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marcy |first1=Pierre |title=Guide populaire dans les Musées du Louvre |date=1867 |publisher=Librairie du Petit Journal |location=Paris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGcEAAAAYAAJ |access-date=14 June 2024}}</ref>

During the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] (1814–1830), [[Louis XVIII]] and [[Charles X of France|Charles X]] added to the collections. The Greek and Roman sculpture gallery on the ground floor of the southwestern side of the [[Cour Carrée]] was completed on designs by [[Percier and Fontaine]]. In 1819 an exhibition of manufactured products was opened in the first floor of the Cour Carrée's southern wing and would stay there until the mid-1820s.{{R|GBB|page=87}} Charles X in 1826 created the {{lang|fr|Musée Égyptien}} and in 1827 included it in his broader {{lang|fr|Musée Charles X}}, a new section of the museum complex located in a suite of lavishly decorated rooms on the first floor of the South Wing of the Cour Carrée. The Egyptian collection, initially curated by [[Jean-François Champollion]], formed the basis for what is now the Louvre's [[Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre|Department of Egyptian Antiquities]]. It was formed from the purchased collections of [[Edmé-Antoine Durand]], [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Henry Salt]] and the second collection of [[Bernardino Drovetti]] (the first one having been purchased by [[Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia]] to form the core of the present [[Museo Egizio]] in [[Turin]]). The Restoration period also saw the opening in 1824 of the {{lang|fr|Galerie d'Angoulême}}, a section of largely French sculptures on the ground floor of the Northwestern side of the Cour Carrée, many of whose artefacts came from the [[Palace of Versailles]] and from Alexandre Lenoir's [[Musée des Monuments français (1795-1816)|Musée des Monuments Français]] following its closure in 1816. Meanwhile, the [[French Navy]] created an exhibition of ship models in the Louvre in December 1827, initially named {{lang|fr|musée dauphin}} in honour of [[Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême|Dauphin Louis Antoine]],<ref>{{cite conference|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/acths_1764-7355_2008_act_130_4_1468 |book-title=Le rôle des voyages dans la constitution des collections ethnographiques, historiques et scientifiques. Actes du 130e Congrès national des sociétés historiques et scientifiques, « Voyages et voyageurs », La Rochelle, 2005 |title=Les collections chinoises et japonaises du musée de la Marine avant 1878 : un cas marginal pour l'ethnographie ? |author=Geneviève Lacambre |location=Paris |publisher=Editions du CTHS |date=2008 |pages=94–109 }}</ref> building on an 18th-century initiative of [[Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau]]. This collection, renamed {{lang|fr|musée naval}} in 1833 and later to develop into the [[Musée national de la Marine]], was initially located on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's North Wing, and in 1838 moved up one level to the 2nd-floor [[attic]], where it remained for more than a century.<ref name=Marine>{{citation|journal=Artefact |title=Le musée de Marine du Louvre : un musée des techniques ? |author=Géraldine Barron |date=April 2021|volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=143–162 |doi=10.4000/artefact.695 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Rooms of the Musée Charles X">
File:Dernière salle des antiquités égyptiennes (Louvre).jpg|First room
File:Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre - Room 27 and others.jpg|Room&nbsp;27
File:Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre - Room 29 D201903.jpg|Room&nbsp;29
File:Salles des colonnes du Louvre, vue vers l'ouest.jpg|Salle des Colonnes
File:Greek antiquities in the Louvre - Room 35 D201903.jpg|Room&nbsp;35
File:Room 36 of the Greek antiquities in the Louvre.jpg|Room&nbsp;36
File:Greek antiquities in the Louvre - Room 38 D201903.jpg|Room&nbsp;38
</gallery>

{{multiple image|align=right |total_width=350|image1=Salon Carré Ceiling.jpg |image2=Palais du Louvre - Salle des Sept-Cheminées -1.JPG |footer=Ceiling decorations designed by [[Félix Duban]] in the [[Salon Carré]] (left) and {{lang|fr|Salle des Sept-Cheminées}} (right), late 1840s}}
[[File:Giuseppe Castiglione - View of the Grand Salon Carré in the Louvre - WGA4552.jpg|thumb|300px|The display in the [[Salon Carré]], painted by [[Giuseppe Castiglione (1829–1908)|Giuseppe Castiglione]] in 1861 following its repurposing of the late 1840s

[[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]]'s ''[[The Wedding at Cana (Veronese)|Wedding at Cana]]'' is visible on the left, and his ''Supper in the House of Simon'' (now at the [[Palace of Versailles]]) is on the right.]]

Following the [[July Revolution]], [[Louis Philippe I|King Louis Philippe]] focused his interest on the repurposing of the [[Palace of Versailles]] into a [[Musée de l'Histoire de France (Versailles)|Museum of French History]] conceived as a project of national reconciliation, and the Louvre was kept in comparative neglect. Louis-Philippe did, however, sponsor the creation of the {{lang|fr|musée assyrien}} to host the monumental [[Assyrian sculpture]] works brought to Paris by [[Paul-Émile Botta]], in the ground-floor gallery north of the eastern entrance of the Cour Carrée. The Assyrian Museum opened on 1 May 1847.<ref>{{cite web|website=Grands sites archéologiques: Khorsabad |title=The opening of the Assyrian museum at the Louvre |url=https://archeologie.culture.fr/khorsabad/en/opening-assyrian-museum-louvre}}</ref> Separately, Louis-Philippe had his [[Spanish gallery]] displayed in the Louvre from 7 January 1838, in five rooms on the first floor of the Cour Carrée's East ([[Louvre Colonnade|Colonnade]]) Wing,<ref>{{citation|title=La galerie espagnole de Louis-Philippe au Louvre: 1838–1848 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3371348d.texteImage |author1=Jeannine Baticle |author2=Cristina Marinas |publisher=Réunion des musées nationaux |location=Paris |date=1981}}</ref> but the collection remained his personal property. As a consequence, the works were removed after Louis-Philippe was deposed in 1848, and were eventually auctioned away in 1853.

The short-lived [[French Second Republic|Second Republic]] had more ambitions for the Louvre. It initiated repair work, the completion of the [[Galerie d'Apollon]] and of the {{lang|fr|salle des sept-cheminées}}, and the overhaul of the {{lang|fr|[[Salon Carré]]}} (former site of the iconic yearly [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]]) and of the Grande Galerie.{{R|Mignot|page=52}} In 1848, the Naval Museum in the Cour Carrée's attic was brought under the common Louvre Museum management,<ref name=Marine/> a change which was again reversed in 1920. In 1850 under the leadership of curator [[Adrien Prévost de Longpérier|Adrien de Longpérier]], the [[musée mexicain]] opened within the Louvre as the first European museum dedicated to [[pre-Columbian art]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 56 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/the-metropolitan-museum-journal-volume-56-2021 |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=www.metmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Second Empire ===
{{Main|Napoleon III's Louvre expansion}}

The rule of [[Napoleon III]] was transformational for the Louvre, both the building and the museum. In 1852, he created the [[Musée des Souverains]] in the [[Louvre Colonnade|Colonnade Wing]], an ideological project aimed at buttressing his personal legitimacy. In 1861, he bought 11,835&nbsp;artworks including 641 paintings, Greek gold and other antiquities of the [[Campana collection]]. For its display, he created another new section within the Louvre named {{lang|fr|Musée Napoléon III}}, occupying a number of rooms in various parts of the building. Between 1852 and 1870, the museum added 20,000&nbsp;new artefacts to its collections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the Louvre? {{!}} Hobble Creek |url=https://hobblecreek.us/blog/entry/what-is-the-louvre |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=hobblecreek.us}}</ref>

The main change of that period was to the building itself. In the 1850s architects [[Louis Visconti]] and [[Hector Lefuel]] created massive new spaces around what is now called the [[Cour Napoléon]], some of which (in the South Wing, now Aile Denon) went to the museum.{{R|Mignot|page=52-54}} In the 1860s, Lefuel also led the creation of the {{lang|fr|pavillon des Sessions}} with a new {{lang|fr|Salle des Etats}} closer to Napoleon III's residence in the [[Tuileries Palace]], with the effect of shortening the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}} by about a third of its previous length. A smaller but significant Second Empire project was the decoration of the {{lang|fr|salle des Empereurs}} below the [[Salon carré]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} {{clear}}

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Musée Napoléon III.jpg|Entrance to a section of the ''Musée Napoléon&nbsp;III'' from the ''salle des séances'', then a double-height space
File:Galerie Daru - Musée du Louvre.jpg|''Galerie Daru'', part of the New Louvre building program under Napoleon&nbsp;III
File:Paris - Musée du Louvre (30612872064).jpg|''Salle Daru'' above the ''galerie Daru'', also created under Napoleon&nbsp;III
File:Escalier Mollien in 2010 (1).jpg|''Escalier Mollien'' in the New Louvre
File:P1080712 Louvre salle romaine rwk.JPG|''Salle des Empereurs''
</gallery>
{{clear}}

=== From 1870 to 1981 ===
[[File:Plaques honoring the defenders of the Louvre in May 1871.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaques honouring the Louvre's defenders in May 1871]]

The Louvre narrowly escaped serious damage during the suppression of the [[Paris Commune]]. On 23 May 1871, as the French Army advanced into Paris, a force of ''Communards'' led by {{ill|Jules Bergeret|fr}} set fire to the adjoining [[Tuileries Palace]]. The fire burned for forty-eight hours, entirely destroying the interior of the Tuileries and spreading to the north west wing of the museum next to it. The emperor's Louvre library (''Bibliothèque du Louvre'') and some of the adjoining halls, in what is now the Richelieu Wing, were separately destroyed. But the museum was saved by the efforts of Paris firemen and museum employees led by curator [[Henry Barbet de Jouy]].<ref>{{cite book|author=René Heron de Villefosse |title=Histoire de Paris |publisher=Bernard Grasset |date=1959}}</ref>

Following the end of the monarchy, several spaces in the Louvre's South Wing went to the museum. The Salle du Manège was transferred to the museum in 1879, and in 1928 became its main entrance lobby.<ref>{{cite web|website=Le Point |date=16 May 2015 |author1=Frédéric Lewino |author2=Anne-Sophie Jahn |title=Visite interdite du Louvre #4 : la magnifique rampe en fer à cheval de la cour des Écuries |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/culture/visite-interdite-du-louvre-4-la-magnifique-rampe-en-fer-a-cheval-de-la-cour-des-ecuries-16-05-2015-1928803_3.php}}</ref> The large Salle des Etats that had been created by Lefuel between the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}} and Pavillon Denon was redecorated in 1886 by {{ill|Edmond Guillaume|fr}}, Lefuel's successor as architect of the Louvre, and opened as a spacious exhibition room.<ref>{{cite web|website=INHA Institut national d'histoire de l'art |title=Guillaume, Edmond (24 juin 1826, Valenciennes – 20 juillet 1894, Paris) |url=https://www.inha.fr/fr/ressources/publications/publications-numeriques/dictionnaire-critique-des-historiens-de-l-art/guillaume-edmond.html |date=9 February 2010 |author=Olivia Tolede}}</ref><ref name=Bresc>{{cite book |author=Geneviève Bresc-Bautier |title=The Louvre, a Tale of a Palace |date=2008 |publisher=Louvre éditions |location=Paris |url=http://editions.louvre.fr/en/titles/visit-the-louvre/history-of-the-palace/the-louvre-a-tale-of-a-palace.html |access-date=1 May 2021 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306033021/http://editions.louvre.fr/en/titles/visit-the-louvre/history-of-the-palace/the-louvre-a-tale-of-a-palace.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Edomond Guillaume also decorated the first-floor room at the northwest corner of the [[Cour Carrée]], on the ceiling of which he placed in 1890 a monumental painting by [[Carolus-Duran]], ''The Triumph of [[Marie de' Medici]]'' originally created in 1879 for the [[Luxembourg Palace]].<ref name=Bresc/>

[[File:Daru staircase Louvre 2007 05 13.jpg|thumb|The Louvre's monumental [[Escalier Daru]], topped by the ''[[Winged Victory of Samothrace]]'', took its current appearance in the early 1930s.]]

Meanwhile, during the [[Third French Republic|Third Republic]] (1870–1940) the Louvre acquired new artefacts mainly via donations, gifts, and sharing arrangements on excavations abroad. The 583-item {{lang|fr|Collection La Caze}}, donated in 1869 by [[Louis La Caze]], included works by [[Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin|Chardin]]; [[Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard|Fragonard]], [[Rembrandt]] and [[Jean-Antoine Watteau|Watteau]].{{R|Mignot|page=70-71}} In 1883, the ''[[Winged Victory of Samothrace]]'', which had been found in the Aegean Sea in 1863, was prominently displayed as the focal point of the [[Escalier Daru]].{{R|Mignot|page=70-71}} Major artefacts excavated at [[Susa]] in Iran, including the massive ''Apadana capital'' and glazed brick decoration from the [[Palace of Darius in Susa|Palace of Darius]] there, accrued to the Oriental (Near Eastern) Antiquities Department in the 1880s. The [[Société des amis du Louvre]] was established in 1897 and donated prominent works, such as the ''[[Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon]]''. The expansion of the museum and its collections slowed after World War I, however, despite some prominent acquisitions such as [[Georges de La Tour]]'s ''Saint Thomas'' and [[Edmond James de Rothschild|Baron Edmond de Rothschild]]'s 1935 donation of 4,000&nbsp;prints, 3,000&nbsp;drawings, and 500&nbsp;illustrated books.

From the late 19th century, the Louvre gradually veered away from its mid-century ambition of universality to become a more focused museum of French, Western and Near Eastern art, covering a space ranging from [[Iran]] to the Atlantic. The collections of the Louvre's [[musée mexicain]] were transferred to the [[Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro]] in 1887. As the {{lang|fr|[[Musée national de la Marine|Musée de Marine]]}} was increasingly constrained to display its core naval-themed collections in the limited space it had in the second-floor [[attic]] of the northern half of the Cour Carrée, many of its significant holdings of non-Western artefacts were transferred in 1905 to the Trocadéro ethnography museum, the [[National Archaeological Museum, France|National Antiquities Museum]] in [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], and the [[Chinese Museum (Fontainebleau)|Chinese Museum]] in the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]].<ref>{{cite book|date=1906 |author=Max Charles Emmanuel Champion de Nansouty |title=Actualites scientifiques, Volume 3 |page=282}}</ref> The Musée de Marine itself was relocated to the [[Palais de Chaillot]] in 1943. The Louvre's extensive collections of [[Asian art]] were moved to the [[Guimet Museum]] in 1945. Nevertheless, the Louvre's first gallery of [[Islamic art]] opened in 1893.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Introduction to Islamic Art – The Cour Visconti |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/an-introduction-to-islamic-art |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Le Louvre |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L15196, Paris, Besuch Gerd v. Rundstedt im Louvre.jpg|thumb|Generalfeldmarschall [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] is seen with a plaster model of the ''[[Venus de Milo]]'',<ref>''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=L0oEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40&q=%22the%20venus%20de%20milo%20now%20replaced%20by%20a%20plaster%20model%22 (4 November 1940), p. 39].</ref> while visiting the Louvre with the curator Alfred Merlin on 7 October 1940.]]

[[File:Meuble de type borne dans la grande galerie du Louvre.jpg|thumb|Seating designed by [[Pierre Paulin]] in the late 1960s, {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}}]]
[[File:Salon Carré D201805 2.jpg|thumb|{{ill|Marc Saltet|fr}}'s 1972 museography for the [[Salon Carré]], with "dos-à-dos" seat designed in 1967 by [[Pierre Paulin]]]]

In the late 1920s, Louvre Director [[Henri Verne]] devised a master plan for the rationalisation of the museum's exhibitions, which was partly implemented in the following decade. In 1932–1934, Louvre architects {{ill|Camille Lefèvre (architect)|lt=Camille Lefèvre|fr|Camille Lefèvre (architecte)}} and Albert Ferran redesigned the [[Escalier Daru]] to its current appearance. The {{lang|fr|Cour du Sphinx}} in the South Wing was covered by a glass roof in 1934. Decorative arts exhibits were expanded in the first floor of the North Wing of the [[Cour Carrée]], including some of France's first [[period room]] displays. In the late 1930s, The La Caze donation was moved to a remodelled {{lang|fr|Salle La Caze}} above the {{lang|fr|salle des Caryatides}}, with reduced height to create more rooms on the second floor and a sober interior design by Albert Ferran.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

During [[World War II]], the Louvre conducted an elaborate plan of [[Evacuation of the Louvre museum art collection during World War II|evacuation of its art collection]]. When Germany occupied the [[Sudetenland]], many important artworks such as the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' were temporarily moved to the [[Château de Chambord]]. When war was formally declared a year later, most of the museum's paintings were sent there as well. Select sculptures such as ''[[Winged Victory of Samothrace]]'' and the ''[[Venus de Milo]]'' were sent to the [[Château de Valençay]].<ref>Alan Riding, ''And the Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris''. Alfred A Knopf, New York: 2010. p. 34.</ref> On 27 August 1939, after two days of packing, truck convoys began to leave Paris. By 28 December, the museum was cleared of most works, except those that were too heavy and "unimportant paintings [that] were left in the basement".<ref>Matila Simon, "The battle of the Louvre;: The struggle to save French art in World War II". Hawthorn Books, 1971. p. 23.</ref> In early 1945, after the liberation of France, art began returning to the Louvre.<ref>Simon,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;177</ref>

New arrangements after the war revealed the further evolution of taste away from the lavish decorative practices of the late 19th century. In 1947, Edmond Guillaume's ceiling ornaments were removed from the {{lang|fr|Salle des Etats}},<ref name=Bresc/> where the ''Mona Lisa'' was first displayed in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |website=Louvre |author=Vincent Delieuvin |title=Les accrochages de la Joconde de 1797 à nos jour |url=https://focus.louvre.fr/sites/default/files/louvre-les-accrochages-joconde.pdf |access-date=1 May 2021 |archive-date=1 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501030432/https://focus.louvre.fr/sites/default/files/louvre-les-accrochages-joconde.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Around 1950, Louvre architect {{ill|Jean-Jacques Haffner|fr}} streamlined the interior decoration of the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Galerie]]|italic=no}}.<ref name=Bresc/> In 1953, a new ceiling by [[Georges Braque]] was inaugurated in the {{lang|fr|Salle Henri II}}, next to the {{lang|fr|Salle La Caze}}.<ref name=LAT>{{cite web|website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-27-la-et-louvre-twombly27-2010mar27-story.html |title=Hitting the Louvre ceiling |author=Devorah Lauter |date=27 March 2010}}</ref> In the late 1960s, seats designed by [[Pierre Paulin]] were installed in the {{lang|fr|Grande Galerie|italic=no}}.<ref>{{cite web|website=Elle Decor |title=Pierre Paulin, the man who made design an art |author=Rita Salerno |date=30 May 2019 |url=https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a27734656/pierre-paulin-biography-works/}}</ref> In 1972, the {{lang|fr|[[Salon Carré]]}}'s museography was remade with lighting from a hung tubular case, designed by Louvre architect {{ill|Marc Saltet|fr}} with assistance from designers {{ill|André Monpoix|fr}}, [[Joseph-André Motte]] and Paulin.<ref>{{cite web|website=Le Monde |title=Le "salon Carré", prestigieux vestibule à la Grande Galerie |author=Michel Conil Lacoste |date=9 February 1972 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1972/02/09/le-salon-carre-prestigieux-vestibule-a-la-grande-galerie_2381391_1819218.html}}</ref>

In 1961, the Finance Ministry accepted to leave the [[Pavillon de Flore]] at the southwestern end of the Louvre building, as Verne had recommended in his 1920s plan. New exhibition spaces of sculptures (ground floor) and paintings (first floor) opened there later in the 1960s, on a design by government architect Olivier Lahalle.<ref>{{cite web|website=Le Figaro |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/histoire/2014/12/04/26001-20141204ARTFIG00203-1964-le-louvre-sera-le-plus-beau-musee-du-monde.php |title=1964 : Le Louvre sera le plus beau musée du monde |author=Pierre Mazars |date=18 November 1964}}</ref>

=== Grand Louvre ===
{{Main|Grand Louvre}}

In 1981, French President [[François Mitterrand]] proposed, as one of his [[Grands Projets of François Mitterrand|Grands Projets]], the Grand Louvre plan to relocate the [[Ministry of the Economy and Finance (France)|Finance Ministry]], until then housed in the North Wing of the Louvre, and thus devote almost the entire Louvre building (except its northwestern tip, which houses the separate [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris|Musée des Arts Décoratifs]]) to the museum which would be correspondingly restructured. In 1984 [[I. M. Pei]], the architect personally selected by Mitterrand, proposed a master plan including an underground entrance space accessed through a [[Louvre Pyramid|glass pyramid]] in the Louvre's central ''Cour Napoléon''.{{R|Mignot|page=66}}

The open spaces surrounding the pyramid were inaugurated on 15 October 1988, and its underground lobby was opened on 30 March 1989. New galleries of early modern French paintings on the 2nd floor of the [[Cour Carrée]], for which the planning had started before the ''Grand Louvre'', also opened in 1989. Further rooms in the same sequence, designed by [[Italo Rota]], opened on 15 December 1992.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

On 18 November 1993, Mitterrand inaugurated the next major phase of the Grand Louvre plan: the renovated North (Richelieu) Wing in the former Finance Ministry site, the museum's largest single expansion in its entire history, designed by Pei, his French associate Michel Macary, and [[Jean-Michel Wilmotte]]. Further underground spaces known as the [[Carrousel du Louvre]], centred on the [[Louvre Inverted Pyramid|Inverted Pyramid]] and designed by Pei and Macary, had opened in October 1993. Other refurbished galleries, of Italian sculptures and Egyptian antiquities, opened in 1994. The third and last main phase of the plan unfolded mainly in 1997, with new renovated rooms in the Sully and Denon wings. A new entrance at the ''porte des Lions'' opened in 1998, leading on the first floor to new rooms of Spanish paintings.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

As of 2002, the Louvre's visitor count had doubled from its pre-Grand-Louvre levels.<ref name="Biz">{{cite web | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_24/b3787627.htm | date=17 June 2002 | title=Online Extra: Q&A with the Louvre's Henri Loyrette | work=Business Week Online | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210154237/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2002-06-16/online-extra-q-and-a-with-the-louvres-henri-loyrette | archive-date=10 December 2013| access-date=26 April 2015 }}</ref>
{{clear}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Louvre Courtyard, Looking West.jpg|The Napoleon Courtyard and Ieoh Ming Pei's [[Louvre Pyramid|pyramid]] in its centre, at dusk
File:Paris July 2011-27a.jpg|The Louvre Palace and the pyramid (by day)
</gallery>

=== 21st century ===
[[File:Cy Twombly Ceiling at Louvre Salle des Bronzes.jpg|thumb|Ceiling by [[Cy Twombly]] installed in 2010 in the {{lang|fr|Salle des Bronzes}}, before the room's redesign in 2021]]

President [[Jacques Chirac]], who had succeeded Mitterrand in 1995, insisted on the return of non-Western art to the Louvre, upon a recommendation from his friend the art collector and dealer {{ill|Jacques Kerchache|fr}}. On his initiative, a selection of highlights from the collections of what would become the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac]] was installed on the ground floor of the {{lang|fr|Pavillon des Sessions}} and opened in 2000, six years ahead of the Musée du Quai Branly itself.

The main other initiative in the aftermath of the Grand Louvre project was Chirac's decision to create a new department of Islamic Art, by executive order of 1 August 2003, and to move the corresponding collections from their prior underground location in the Richelieu Wing to a more prominent site in the Denon Wing. That new section opened on 22 September 2012, together with collections from the Roman-era Eastern Mediterranean, with financial support from the [[Alwaleed Philanthropies|Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation]] and on a design by [[Mario Bellini]] and [[Rudy Ricciotti]].<ref name="Islamic art, covered">Gareth Harris (13 September 2012), [https://www.ft.com/content/ad9c2ff2-f5bf-11e1-bf76-00144feabdc0 Islamic art, covered] ''[[Financial Times]]''.</ref><ref>Carol Vogel (19 September 2012), [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/arts/design/the-louvres-new-islamic-galleries-bring-riches-to-light.html The Louvre's New Islamic Galleries Bring Riches to Light] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/2781939|title=Structural Innovation and the Stakes of Heritage: The Bellini-Ricciotti Louvre Dpt of Islamic Arts|author=Denis Bocquet|journal=Academia.edu|date=20 February 2013 }}</ref>

In 2007, German painter [[Anselm Kiefer]] was invited to create a work for the North stairs of the [[Claude Perrault|Perrault]] [[Louvre Colonnade|Colonnade]], ''Athanor''. This decision announces the museum's reengagement with contemporary art under the direction of [[Henri Loyrette]], fifty years after the institution's last order to a contemporary artists, [[Georges Braque|George Braque]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Serafin |first=Amy |date=21 October 2007 |title=The Louvre Now Accepts the Living |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/arts/design/21sera.html |access-date=16 January 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2010, American painter [[Cy Twombly]] completed a new ceiling for the {{lang|fr|Salle des Bronzes}} (the former {{lang|fr|Salle La Caze}}), a counterpoint to that of Braque installed in 1953 in the adjacent {{lang|fr|Salle Henri II}}. The room's floor and walls were redesigned in 2021 by Louvre architect Michel Goutal to revert the changes made by his predecessor Albert Ferran in the late 1930s, triggering protests from the Cy Twombly Foundation on grounds that the then-deceased painter's work had been created to fit with the room's prior decoration.<ref>{{cite web|website=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/arts/design/louvre-cy-twombly-ceiling.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/arts/design/louvre-cy-twombly-ceiling.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited |title=Palace Intrigue at the Louvre, as a Paint Job Leads to a Lawsuit |author=Doreen Carvajal |date=5 March 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

That same year, the Louvre commissioned French artist [[François Morellet]] to create a work for the Lefuel stairs, on the first floor. For ''L'esprit d'escalier'' Morellet redesigned the stairscase's windows, echoing their original structures but distorting them to create a disturbing optical effect.<ref>{{Cite web |title="L'esprit d'escalier", François Morellet {{!}} Cnap |url=https://www.cnap.fr/lesprit-descalier-francois-morellet |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=www.cnap.fr}}</ref>

On 6 June 2014, the Decorative Arts section on the first floor of the [[Cour Carrée]]'s northern wing opened after comprehensive refurbishment.<ref>{{cite web|website=La Tribune de l'Art |title=La réouverture des salles d'objets d'art du Louvre, de Louis XIV à Louis XVI |author=Didier Rykner |date=8 June 2014 |url=https://www.latribunedelart.com/la-reouverture-des-salles-d-objets-d-art-du-louvre-de-louis-xiv-a-louis-xvi-5107-5107-5107}}</ref>

In January 2020, under the direction of [[Jean-Luc Martinez]], the museum inaugurated a new contemporary art commission, ''L'Onde du Midi'' by Venezuelan kinetic artist [[Elias Crespin]]. The sculpture hovers under the Escalier du Midi, the staircase on the South of the [[Louvre Colonnade|Perrault Colonnade]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 January 2020 |title=Elias Crespin, l'art de la ligne au Louvre |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/elias-crespin-l-art-de-la-ligne-au-louvre-20200120 |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref>

The Louvre, like many other museums and galleries, felt the [[impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage]]. The museum closed after the end of the day on 29 February 2020,<ref>Yan, Holly. [https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/01/europe/france-coronavirus-louvre-closed "Paris' famed Louvre Museum is closed as France deals with at least 100 cases of novel coronavirus"], [[CNN]], 1 March 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2025.</ref> and it did not reopen until 6 July.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louvre-museum-reopens-paris-four-month-closing-coronavirus/ "Louvre reopens after four-month closing due to coronavirus"], [[Associated Press]], via [[CBS News]], 6 July 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2025.</ref> The museum operated with limited capacity until 29 October, when it was ordered closed again due to an increase in COVID cases in France,<ref>Hickman, Matt. [https://www.archpaper.com/2020/10/struggling-museums-lock-down-covid-19-surges-europe/ "Struggling cultural institutions lock down (again) as COVID-19 surges across Europe"], ''[[The Architect's Newspaper]]'', 30 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2025.</ref> and reopened on 19 May 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Makoni |first=Abbianca |date=19 May 2021 |title=Bienvenu! Louvre museum reopens after six month shutdown |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/louvre-reopens-paris-coronavirus-pandemic-france-b935995.html |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref> As a result, the museum recorded only 2.7 million visitors in 2020, down from 9.6 million in 2019 and a record 10.2 million in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|date=8 January 2021|title=Louvre museum visitors dropped more than 70% in virus-wracked 2020|url=https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20210108-louvre-museum-visitors-dropped-more-than-70-in-virus-wracked-2020|access-date=13 January 2021|website=France 24|language=en}}</ref>

In preparation for the [[2024 Summer Olympics|2024 Olympics]], the Louvre staged an exhibit about the Games' history that links their ancient beginnings to the modern era.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LaBarge |first=Emily |date=April 26, 2024 |title=At the Louvre, the Olympics Are More French Than You Might Think |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/arts/louvre-olympics-exhibition.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Attendance rose to 8.9 million in 2023, 14 percent above 2022, but still short of the record of 10.2 million in 2018.<ref name="francetvinfo.fr">{{cite web | url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/arts-expos/en-2023-le-louvre-a-retrouve-une-frequentation-pre-covid-avec-pres-de-9-millions-de-visiteurs_6280212.html | title=En 2023, le Louvre a retrouvé une fréquentation pré-Covid avec près de 9 millions de visiteurs | date=3 January 2024 }}</ref>

In January 2025, French President [[Emmanuel Macron]] announced plans for a renovation and expansion of the Louvre, including a room solely for the Mona Lisa. The planned renovation and expansion was a result of the increasing number of visitors each year to the Louvre.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Francis |first=Ellen |date=28 January 2025 |title=Mona Lisa to get a room of her own in Louvre museum renovation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/28/louve-museum-renovation-mona-lisa/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129135438/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/28/louve-museum-renovation-mona-lisa/ |archive-date=29 January 2025 |access-date=29 January 2025 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> On 16 June 2025, the museum's employees went on strike in protest against chronic issues such as overcrowding, understaffing and "untenable" working conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 June 2025 |title=The world's most-visited museum shuts down, sounding the alarm on overtourism |url=https://apnews.com/article/louvre-museum-paris-closed-lines-delay-2bbf9be4f49de739fd14dd4d908e4d72 |access-date=16 June 2025 |website=AP News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-16 |title=The Louvre in Paris closes unexpectedly as staff protest conditions - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louvre-paris-closed-reopening-unclear/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 19 October 2025, the Louvre was subjected to [[2025 Louvre robbery|a robbery]] through a forced window in the [[Galerie d'Apollon]]. The museum reported that jewellery had been stolen, and the perpetrators fled by motorbike.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-10-19 |title=Musée du Louvre closed due to robbery |url=https://attractionsdaily.com/2025/10/musee-du-louvre-robbery/ |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Attractions Daily |language=en-GB}}</ref> They used a construction platform left by the building to enter a window and leave with their score.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-19 |title=Spectaculaire cambriolage au Louvre, des bijoux "inestimables" dérobés |url=https://www.boursorama.com/bourse/actualites/spectaculaire-cambriolage-au-louvre-des-bijoux-inestimables-derobes-22f02fcfde8b09ab13c59aed4630ba79 |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Boursorama |language=fr}}</ref> The museum was closed for the day.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-19 |title=Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> French interior minister [[Laurent Nuñez]] said the robbery involved intruders entering the museum via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry and then cut into the window using what appeared to be angle grinders.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Priceless' jewellery stolen from Louvre museum in Paris - as authorities reveal details of daring raid |url=https://news.sky.com/story/louvre-museum-in-paris-closed-after-robbery-13453106 |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref> Nine major pieces of jewellery from the crowns of France were taken in a few minutes.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bajos |first1=Par Sandrine |last2=à 13h43 |first2=avec J.-M. D. Le 19 octobre 2025 |date=2025-10-19 |title=Musée du Louvre cambriolé : quels sont les bijoux exposés dans la galerie d'Apollon visée par les voleurs ? |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/musee-du-louvre-cambriole-quels-sont-les-bijoux-exposes-dans-la-galerie-dapollon-visee-par-les-voleurs-19-10-2025-VYY6HZW5FNFAHBMJHD53E3UKTI.php |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref> Eight pieces were stolen, including an emerald necklace that belonged to [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Empress Marie-Louise]] and three jewels that belonged to queens [[Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily|Marie-Amelie]] and [[Hortense de Beauharnais|Hortense]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schechner |first=Sam |date=2025-10-19 |title=Brazen Heist at Louvre Museum Snatches Priceless Royal Jewels |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/seven-minute-heist-at-louvre-leaves-museum-missing-priceless-jewels-2b4b586e |access-date=2025-10-19 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> The ninth item, the [[Crown of Empress Eugénie]], was recovered the same day in a street close to the Louvre but in a damaged condition.<ref>{{cite web |last=Biétry-Rivierre |first=Eric |date=19 October 2025 |title=1354 diamants, 56 émeraudes : la couronne de l'impératrice Eugénie, un trésor acquis par l'État en 1988 |trans-title=1354 diamonds, 56 emeralds: the crown of Empress Eugenie, a treasure acquired by the State in 1988 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/1354-diamants-56-emeraudes-la-couronne-de-l-imperatrice-eugenie-un-tresor-acquis-par-l-etat-en-1988-20251019 |access-date=21 October 2025 |publisher=[[Le Figaro]] |language=fr}}</ref>

On 25 October, two of the suspected thieves were arrested, one was trying to fly to Algeria from Charles de Gaulle Airport.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2em38pdv0do |title=Two arrested over theft of jewels at Louvre museum in Paris |work=BBC News |date=26 October 2025|access-date=26 October 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251026115154/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2em38pdv0do |archive-date=26 October 2025}}</ref>On 29 October, the prosecutor in charge said that they had "partially admitted" to their involvement in the heist. She added that the jewels were yet to be recovered.<ref>{{cite news |last=Parodi |first=Alessandro |title=Louvre heist suspects 'partially admit' involvement, stolen jewels still missing |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/detained-louvre-heist-suspects-have-partially-recognised-involvement-prosecutor-2025-10-29/ |work=Reuters |date=29 October 2025 |access-date=30 October 2025}}</ref>On the same day, five additional suspects were arrested, but only one of them was allegedly part of the four-man heist team.<ref>{{cite news|title=Five new suspects arrested over Louvre jewellery theft|date=30 October 2025|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz91jnyelq2o|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251030172208/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz91jnyelq2o|archive-date=30 October 2025|work=BBC|access-date=30 October 2025|last=Armstrong|first=Kathryn}}</ref>

On 30 October, police arrested five more suspects, but there was still no sign of the stolen jewels.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parodi |first=Alessandro |date=30 October 2025 |title=French police hunting stolen Louvre jewels arrest more suspects |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/third-suspect-arrested-over-louvre-heist-french-tv-reports-2025-10-30/ |website=Reuters}}</ref> 

{{clear}}
<gallery mode="packed" captionstyle="font-size: small;">
File:Pavillon des Sessions 01.jpg|The {{lang|fr|Pavillon des Sessions}}'s display of non-Western art from the [[Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac|Musée du Quai Branly]], opened in 2000
File:Cour Visconti (Louvre) D201512a.jpg|The {{lang|fr|Cour Visconti}}'s ground floor covered to host the new Islamic Art Department in 2012
File:Les arts de l'Islam au Louvre (8055981963).jpg|Islamic art display in the covered {{lang|fr|Cour Visconti}}, 2012
File:Louvre, dipartimento di arte islamica, 01.JPG|Underground display of the Islamic Art Department, 2012
</gallery>

== Collections ==
The Musée du Louvre owns 615,797&nbsp;objects<ref name="rapport2019">[http://mini-site.louvre.fr/trimestriel/2020/RA2019/31/#zoom=z Rapport d'activité 2019 du musée du Louvre], p. 29, website www.louvre.fr.</ref> of which 482,943 are accessible online since 24 March 2021<ref>[https://www.lejdd.fr/Culture/le-louvre-lance-un-site-internet-plus-immersif-et-une-base-publique-recensant-ses-collections-4033696 ''Le Louvre lance un site Internet plus immersif et une base publique recensant ses collections''], Le Journal du Dimanche, Marie-Anne Kleiber, 24 mars 2021, website le jdd.fr.</ref> and displays 35,000&nbsp;works of art in eight curatorial departments.<ref name=CollectionSize/>

The Louvre is home to one of the world's most extensive collections of art, including works from diverse cultures and time periods. Visitors can view iconic works like the [[Mona Lisa]] and the [[Winged Victory of Samothrace]], as well as pieces from ancient civilisations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The museum also features collections of decorative arts, Islamic art, and sculptures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louvre |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/collections |access-date=7 April 2023 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407161102/https://www.louvre.fr/en/collections |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Egyptian antiquities ===
{{main|Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre}}

The department, comprising over 50,000&nbsp;pieces,{{R|Mignot|page=74}} includes artefacts from the [[Nile]] civilisations which date from 4,000&nbsp;BC to the 4th&nbsp;century AD.<ref name="Nave 42" /> The collection, among the world's largest, overviews Egyptian life spanning [[Ancient Egypt]], the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]], the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], [[Coptic art]], and the [[Roman Egypt|Roman]], [[History of Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemaic]], and [[Byzantine]] periods.<ref name="Nave 42">Nave,&nbsp;pp. 42–43</ref>

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.{{R|Mignot|page=76-77}} After [[Jean-François Champollion]] translated the [[Rosetta Stone]], [[Charles X of France|Charles&nbsp;X]] decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created. Champollion advised the purchase of three collections, formed by [[Edmé-Antoine Durand]], [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Henry Salt]], and [[Bernardino Drovetti]]; these additions added 7,000&nbsp;works. Growth continued via acquisitions by [[Auguste Mariette]], founder of the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], sent back crates of archaeological finds including ''[[The Seated Scribe]]''.{{R|Mignot|page=76-77}}<ref name="Egyptian"/>

Guarded by the [[Great Sphinx of Tanis]], the collection is housed in more than 20&nbsp;rooms. Holdings include art, [[papyrus]] scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewellery, games, musical instruments, and weapons.{{R|Mignot|page=76-77}}<ref name="Nave 42"/> Pieces from the ancient period include the ''[[Gebel el-Arak Knife]]'' from 3400&nbsp;BC, ''The Seated Scribe'', and the ''Head of King Djedefre''. Middle Kingdom art, "known for its gold work and statues", moved from realism to idealisation; this is exemplified by the [[schist]] statue of [[Amenemhatankh]] and the wooden ''Offering Bearer''. 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.<ref name="Nave 42"/><ref name="Egyptian">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211727&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211727&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181077&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |publisher=Musée du Louvre |title=Egyptian Antiquities |access-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311063405/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211727&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211727&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181077&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=11 March 2008 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
Gebel el-Arak knife mp3h8783-cropped.jpg|The ''[[Gebel el-Arak Knife]]''; 3300–3200 BC; handle: elephant ivory, blade: flint; length: 25.8&nbsp;cm
File:The seated scribe-E 3023-IMG 4267-gradient.jpg| ''[[The Seated Scribe]]''; 2613–2494&nbsp;BC; painted limestone and inlaid [[quartz]]; height: 53.7&nbsp;cm
Sphinx, Louvre 15 June 2014.jpg|The ''[[Great Sphinx of Tanis]]''; circa 2600 BC; rose granite; height: 183&nbsp;cm, width: 154&nbsp;cm, thickness: 480&nbsp;cm
Akhenathon and Nefertiti E15593 mp3h8771-gradient.jpg|''[[Akhenaten]] and [[Nefertiti]]''; 1345 BC; painted limestone; height: 22.2&nbsp;cm, width: 12.3&nbsp;cm, thickness: 9.8&nbsp;cm
</gallery>

=== Near Eastern antiquities ===
[[File:Department of Near Eastern Antiquities, Louvre Museum.webp|thumb|Ancient sculpture exhibited in the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities at the Louvre Museum]]
Near Eastern antiquities, the second newest department, dates from 1881 and presents an overview of early Near Eastern civilisation and "first settlements", before the arrival of [[Islam]]. The department is divided into three geographic areas: the [[Levant]], [[Mesopotamia]] (Iraq), 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.<ref name="Nave 42"/>{{R|Mignot|page=119}} These finds formed the basis of the Assyrian museum, the precursor to today's department.<ref name="Nave 42"/>

The museum contains exhibits from [[Sumer]] and the city of [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]], with monuments such as the Prince of Lagash's ''[[Stele of the Vultures]]'' from 2450&nbsp;BC and the [[stele]] erected by [[Naram-Sin of Akkad|Naram-Sin]], King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the [[Zagros Mountains]]. The {{convert|2.25|m|ft|2|adj=on}} [[Code of Hammurabi]], discovered in 1901, displays [[Babylonian Law]]s prominently, so that no man could plead their ignorance. The 18th-century BC mural of the ''[[Investiture of Zimrilim]]'' and the 25th-century BC ''[[Statue of Ebih-Il]]'' found in the ancient city-state of [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] are also on display at the museum.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caubet |first=Annie |url=http://archive.org/details/louvreneareaster0000caub |title=The Louvre : Near Eastern antiquities |date=1991 |publisher=Paris : Ed. Scala, Réunion des musées nationaux |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-2-7118-2477-9}}</ref>

A significant portion of the department covers the ancient [[Levant]], including the ''[[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II]]'' discovered in 1855, which catalysed [[Ernest Renan]]'s 1860 ''[[Mission de Phénicie]]''. It contains one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions]]. The section also covers North African Punic antiquities (Punic = Western Phoenician), given the significant French presence in the region in the 19th century, with early finds including the 1843 discovery of the [[Ain Nechma inscriptions]].

The Persian portion of Louvre contains work from the archaic period, like the ''Funerary Head'' and the Persian ''Archers of Darius I'',<ref name="Nave 42"/><ref name="Near East">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211730&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211730&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181111&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Decorative Arts |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=20 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020071258/http://louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211730&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211730&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181111&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=20 October 2007 }}</ref> and rare objects from [[Persepolis]].<ref>{{cite news
| title =Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia
| publisher =University of California Press
| year =2006
| url =http://arthistory.about.com/library/weekly/sp/bl_forgottenempcat_rev.htm
| access-date =12 November 2007
| archive-date =9 November 2011
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20111109165244/http://arthistory.about.com/library/weekly/sp/bl_forgottenempcat_rev.htm
| url-status =dead
}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
Eshmunazar II sarcophagus (cleaned up).jpg|[[Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II]], one of only three Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi found outside Egypt, and the first Phoenician inscription discovered in Phoenicia
Cup Idalion Louvre N3455.jpg|[[Phoenician metal bowls]] from Cyprus
Ebih-Il Louvre AO17551 n01.jpg|The ''[[Statue of Ebih-Il]]''; circa 2400 BC; [[gypsum]], [[schist]], shells and [[lapis lazuli]]; height: 52.5&nbsp;cm
P1050763 Louvre code Hammurabi face rwk.JPG|The ''[[Code of Hammurabi]]''; 1755–1750 BC; [[basalt]]; height: 225&nbsp;cm, width: 79&nbsp;cm, thickness: 47&nbsp;cm
Human headed winged bull profile.jpg|[[Assyria]]n [[lamassu]] (Human-headed winged bull); circa 713–716 BC; 4.2 x 4.4 x 1 m
Immortels - dynamosquito.jpg|Frieze of archers, from the [[Palace of Darius]] at [[Susa]]; circa 510 BC; bricks
Sidon Mithraeum 'Collection Péretié', Louvre (2014-02-02a).jpg|Statues from the [[Sidon Mithraeum]]
</gallery>

=== Greek, Etruscan, and Roman ===
[[File:Greek antiquities in the Louvre - Room 340 D201903.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ancient Greek art|Greek]] antiquities in Room 11]]
The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the [[Neolithic]] to the 6th&nbsp;century.<ref name="GreekER">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211729&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211729&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181112&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104162328/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211729&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211729&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181112&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=4 November 2007 }}</ref> The collection spans from the [[History of the Cyclades|Cycladic period]] to the decline of the Roman Empire. This department is one of the museum's oldest, and contains works acquired by [[Francis I of France|Francis I]].<ref name="Nave 42"/>{{R|Mignot|page=155-58}} Initially, the collection focused on marble sculptures, such as the ''[[Venus de Milo]]''. Works such as the ''[[Apollo Belvedere]]'' arrived during the Napoleonic Wars, of which some were returned after Napoleon I's fall in 1815. Other works, such as the [[Borghese Vase]], were bought by Napoleon. Later in the 19th&nbsp;century, the Louvre acquired works including vases from the Durand collection and bronzes.{{R|Mignot|page=92}}<ref name="GreekER"/>

The [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] is demonstrated by jewellery and pieces such as the limestone [[Lady of Auxerre]], from 640 BC; and the cylindrical ''[[Hera]] of Samos'', {{c.|570}}–560&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Nave 42"/><ref>Hannan,&nbsp;p. 252</ref> After the 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;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&nbsp;BC) and the Venus de Milo, symbolic of classical art.{{R|Mignot|page=155}} The long ''Galerie Campana'' displays an outstanding collection of more than one thousand [[Greek pottery|Greek potteries]]. In the galleries paralleling the Seine, much of the museum's Roman sculpture is displayed.<ref name="GreekER"/> The Roman portraiture is representative of that genre; examples include the portraits of [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] and [[Marcus Annius Verus (disambiguation)|Annius Verus]]; among the bronzes is the Greek [[Apollo of Piombino]].

<gallery widths="170" heights="170" mode="packed">
Head figurine Spedos Louvre Ma2709.jpg|[[Cycladic art|Cycladic]] head of a woman; 27th century BC; marble; height: 27&nbsp;cm
Crater Actaeon Louvre CA3482.jpg|[[Volute]] [[krater]] that depicts [[Actaeon]]'s death; circa 450–440 BC; ceramic; height: 51&nbsp;cm, diameter: 33.1&nbsp;cm
Victoire de Samothrace - vue de trois-quart gauche, gros plan de la statue (2).JPG|The ''[[Winged Victory of Samothrace]]''; 200–190 BC; [[Parian marble]]; 244&nbsp;cm
Front views of the Venus de Milo.jpg|''[[Venus de Milo]]''; 130–100 BC; marble; height: 203&nbsp;cm
Las Incantadas (Louvre) 4.jpg|[[Las Incantadas]], sculptures from a [[portico]] that adorned the [[Roman Forum (Thessaloniki)|Roman Forum]] of [[Thessalonica]], 150–230 AD<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010275510|website=collections.louvre.fr|title=L'Incantada|access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Islamic art ===
The Islamic art collection, the museum's newest, spans "thirteen centuries and three continents".<ref name="Islam">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211731&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211731&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181076&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Islamic Art |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109153118/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211731&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211731&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181076&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=9 November 2007 }}</ref> These exhibits, of ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures, include more than 5,000&nbsp;works and 1,000&nbsp;shards.<ref name="Ahlund">Ahlund, p. 24</ref> Originally part of the decorative arts department, the holdings became separate in 2003. Among the works are the ''[[Pyxis of al-Mughira|Pyxide d'al-Mughira]]'', a 10th&nbsp;century ivory box from [[Andalusia]]; the ''Baptistery of Saint-Louis'', an engraved brass basin from the 13th&nbsp;or&nbsp;14th&nbsp;century [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] period; and the 10th&nbsp;century ''[[Suaire de Saint-Josse|Shroud of Saint-Josse]]'' from Iran.{{R|Mignot|page=119-121}}<ref name="Islam"/> The collection contains three pages of the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', an epic book of poems by [[Ferdowsi]] in Persian, and a Syrian metalwork named the ''Barberini Vase''.<ref name="Ahlund"/> In September 2019, a new and improved Islamic art department was opened by Princess [[Lamia bint Majed Al Saud]]. The new department exhibits 3,000 pieces were collected from Spain to India via the Arabian peninsula dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1552736/saudi-arabia|title=Saudi Arabia's Princess Lamia opens new and improved Islamic art space at Louvre in Paris|date=10 September 2019|website=Arab News|language=en|access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
Spagna, cordoba, pisside col nome di al-mughina, avorio, X sec. 04.JPG|The ''[[Pyxis of al-Mughira]]''; 10th century (maybe 968); ivory; 15 x 8&nbsp;cm
Tile with bismillah Louvre AD28001a.jpg|Iranian tile with bismillah; turn of the 13th-14th century; molded ceramic, luster glaze and [[Glaze (painting technique)|glaze]]
Siria, bacile detto battistero di s.luigi, 1320-40 ca, firmato muhammad ibn al-zayn, con restauri del 1821, ottone incr. d'oro, arge e pasta nera 01.JPG|The ''[[Baptistère de Saint Louis]]''; by Muhammad ibn al-Zayn; 1320–1340; hammering, engraving, inlay in brass, gold, and silver; 50.2 x 22.2&nbsp;cm
Door Louvre AA320 n01.jpg|Door; 15th-16th century; sculpted, painted and gilded walnut wood
</gallery>

=== Sculptures ===
{{See also|List of works in the Louvre}}
[[File:Louvre-CourMarly.jpg|thumb|The Cour Marly of the Louvre, where many French sculptures are exhibited]]
The sculpture department consists of works created before 1850 not belonging in the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman department.<ref name="Sculpture">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211734&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211734&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181113&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Sculptures |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107072625/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211734&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211734&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181113&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=7 November 2007 }}</ref> 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''.{{R|Mignot|page=397-401}} Initially the collection included only 100&nbsp;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, ''[[Childebert I|King Childebert]]'' and ''stanga door'', respectively.{{R|Mignot|page=397-401}} The collection was part of the Department of Antiquities but was given autonomy in 1871 under [[Louis Courajod]], a director who organised a wider representation of French works.<ref name="Sculpture"/>{{R|Mignot|page=397-401}} In 1986, all post-1850 works were relocated to the new Musée d'Orsay. The Grand Louvre project separated the department into two exhibition spaces; the French collection is displayed in the Richelieu Wing, and foreign works in the Denon Wing.<ref name="Sculpture"/>

The collection's overview of French sculpture contains [[Romanesque art|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 restrained, as 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 [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]]'s 1640–1 [[Bust of Cardinal Richelieu]], [[Étienne Maurice Falconet]]'s ''Woman Bathing'' and ''Amour menaçant'', and [[François and Michel Anguier|François Anguier]]'s obelisks. [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] works includes [[Antonio Canova]]'s ''[[Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss]]'' (1787).{{R|Mignot|page=397-401}} The 18th and 19th centuries are represented by the French sculptors like [[Alfred Barye]] and [[Émile Guillemin]].

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
Tomb of Philippe Pot, Right Side - Louvre, Room 10.jpg|The ''[[Tomb of Philippe Pot]]''; 1477 and 1483; limestone, paint, gold and lead; height: 181&nbsp;cm, width: 260&nbsp;cm, depth: 167&nbsp;cm
Fame riding Pegasus Coysevox Louvre MR1824.jpg|''The King's Fame Riding Pegasus''; by [[Antoine Coysevox]]; 1701–1702; [[Carrara]] marble; height: 3.15 m, width: 2.91 m, depth: 1.28 m
File:Louvre seine marne mr1801.jpg|Group sculpture; by [[Nicolas Coustou]]; 1701–1712; marble; height: 2.44 m
File:Louis XV Coustou Louvre MR1811.jpg|[[Louis XV]] as [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]; 1731; probably marble; height: 1.95 m, width: 1.20 m, depth: 68&nbsp;cm
</gallery>

=== Decorative arts ===
{{multiple image
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| footer            = Some of the [[Second Empire style]] rooms of the apartments of [[Napoleon III]]
| image1            = Appartements Napoléon III.jpg
| image2            = Apartamentos de Napoleão (3666688904).jpg
| image3            = Napoleon III Apartments (44883695984).jpg
| image4            = LouvreSalle88a.jpg
}}

The [[Objet d'art|Objets d'art]] collection spans the time from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th&nbsp;century. The department began as a subset of the sculpture department, based on royal property 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''.<ref name="Nave 130"/>{{R|Mignot|page=451-454}} 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&nbsp;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&nbsp;middle-age and [[faience|faïence]] works. In 1862, the [[Campana collection]] added gold jewellery and maiolicas, mainly from the 15th&nbsp;and&nbsp;16th&nbsp;centuries.{{R|Mignot|page=451-454}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211732&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211732&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181114&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Decorative Arts |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203074306/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211732&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211732&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181114&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=3 December 2007 }}</ref>

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&nbsp;XIV (the Sun King) to decorate the space in a solar theme. The medieval collection contains the coronation crown of Louis&nbsp;XV, [[Charles V of France|Charles&nbsp;V's]] sceptre, and the 12th&nbsp;century ''porphyry vase''.<ref>Lasko,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;242</ref> The Renaissance art holdings include [[Giambologna]]'s bronze ''Nessus and Deianira'' and the tapestry ''Maximillian's Hunt''.<ref name="Nave 130">Nave,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;130</ref> From later periods, highlights include [[Madame de Pompadour]]'s [[Sèvres]] vase collection and [[Napoleon III of France|Napoleon&nbsp;III]]'s apartments.<ref name="Nave 130"/>

In September 2000, the Louvre Museum dedicated the [[Gilbert R. Chagoury|Gilbert Chagoury]] and Rose-Marie Chagoury Gallery to display tapestries donated by the Chagourys, including a 16th-century six-part tapestry suite, sewn with gold and silver threads representing sea divinities, which was commissioned in Paris for [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay|Colbert de Seignelay]], Secretary of State for the Navy.

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
Armoire Louvre OA 6968.jpg|[[Henry II style]] wardrobe; {{c.|1580}}; walnut and oak, partially gilded and painted; height: 2.06 m, width: 1.50 m, depth: 0.60 m<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/armoire-said-be-hugues-sambin|title=Armoire said to be by Hugues Sambin|author=Barbier Muriel|website=louvre.fr|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510192240/https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/armoire-said-be-hugues-sambin|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Musée du Louvre - Département des Objets d'art - Salle 34 -2.JPG|[[Louis XIV style]] cabinet on stand; by [[André Charles Boulle]]; {{c.|1690}}–1710; oak frame, resinous wood and walnut, ebony veneer, tortoiseshell, brass and pewter marquetry, and [[ormolu]]
Commode de la comtesse du Barry (Louvre, OA 11293).jpg|[[Louis XVI style]] commode of [[Madame du Barry]]; 1772; oak frame, veneer of pearwood, rosewood and kingwood, soft-paste [[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres|Sèvres porcelain]], gilded bronze, white marble, and glass; height: 0.87 m, width: 1.19 m, depth: 0.48 m<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/commode-madame-du-barry|title=Commode of Madame du Barry|author=Barbier Muriel|website=louvre.fr|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510181312/https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/commode-madame-du-barry|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Baromètre - thermomètre (Louvre, OA 10545).jpg|Louis XVI style barometer-thermometer; {{c.|1776}}; soft-paste Sèvres porcelain, enamel, and ormolu; height: 1 m, width: 0.27 m<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/barometer-thermometer?sous_dept=1|title=Barometer-thermometer|author=Catherine Voiriot|website=louvre.fr|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510175213/https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/barometer-thermometer?sous_dept=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Painting ===
{{further|Catalog of paintings in the Louvre Museum}}
[[File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|''[[Mona Lisa]]''; by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], {{Circa}} 1503–1506, perhaps continuing until {{Circa}} 1517; oil on poplar panel; 77&nbsp;cm × 53&nbsp;cm]]
The painting collection has more than 7,500&nbsp;works{{R|Rosenberg|page=229}} from the 13th&nbsp;century to 1848 and is managed by 12&nbsp;curators who oversee the collection's display. Nearly two-thirds are by French artists, and more than 1,200&nbsp;are Northern European. The Italian paintings compose most of the remnants of Francis&nbsp;I and Louis&nbsp;XIV's collections, others are unreturned artwork from the Napoleon era, and some were bought.<ref>Hannan,&nbsp;p.&nbsp;262</ref>{{R|Mignot|page=199-201, 272–273, 333–335}} The collection began with Francis, who acquired works from Italian masters such as [[Raphael]] and [[Michelangelo]]<ref>According to [[Giorgio Vasari]], Michelangelo's [[Leda and the Swan]], (now lost) was acquired by Francis I.</ref> and brought Leonardo da Vinci to his court.<ref name="Mona">{{Cite news |last=Chaundy |first=Bob |date=29 September 2006 |title=Faces of the Week |work=BBC |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5392000.stm |access-date=5 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="Paintings">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211733&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211733&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181115&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Paintings |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323072005/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211733&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211733&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181115&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=23 March 2008 }}</ref> 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.{{R|Mignot|page=199}}

Exemplifying the French School are the early ''[[Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon|Avignon Pietà]]'' of [[Enguerrand Quarton]]; the anonymous painting of ''King Jean le Bon'' ({{Circa}} 1360), possibly the oldest independent portrait in Western painting to survive from the postclassical era;{{R|Mignot|page=201}} [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]]'s ''Louis XIV''; [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s ''[[The Coronation of Napoleon]]''; [[Théodore Géricault]]'s ''[[The Raft of the Medusa]]''; and [[Eugène Delacroix]]'s ''[[Liberty Leading the People]]''. Nicolas Poussin, the Le Nain brothers, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Brun, La Tour, Watteau, Fragonard, Ingres, Corot, and Delacroix are well represented.<ref name=ParisDigest>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parisdigest.com/museums/louvre-french-artists.htm |title=French artists in Louvre Museum | year=2018 |publisher=Paris Digest |access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref>

Northern European works include [[Johannes Vermeer]]'s ''[[The Lacemaker (Vermeer)|The Lacemaker]]'' and ''[[The Astronomer (Vermeer)|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=At the Heart of the Renaissance Palace |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/at-the-heart-of-the-renaissance-palace |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=Le Louvre |language=en}}</ref> The works include [[Andrea Mantegna]] and [[Giovanni Bellini]]'s ''Calvary''s, which reflect realism and detail "meant to depict the significant events of a greater spiritual world".<ref>Hannan,&nbsp;p. 267</ref> The High Renaissance collection includes [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]'', ''[[The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (Leonardo da Vinci)|Virgin and Child with St. Anne]]'', ''[[St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)|St. John the Baptist]]'', and ''[[Madonna of the Rocks]]''. The Baroque collection includes [[Giambattista Pittoni]]'s ''[[The Continence of Scipio]]'', ''[[Susanna and the Elders]]'', ''[[Bacchus and Ariadne]]'', ''[[Venus and Mars (Botticelli)|Mars and Venus]]'', and others [[Caravaggio]] is represented by ''[[The Fortune Teller (Caravaggio)|The Fortune Teller]]'' and ''[[Death of the Virgin (Caravaggio)|Death of the Virgin]]''. From 16th&nbsp;century Venice, the Louvre displays [[Titian]]'s ''Le Concert Champetre'', ''The Entombment,'' and ''The Crowning with Thorns''.{{R|Mignot|page=378}}<ref>Hannan,&nbsp;pp.&nbsp;270–78</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.louvre.fr/llv/exposition/detail_exposition.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673469921&CURRENT_LLV_EXPO%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673469921&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500927&bmLocale=en |title= 
Musée du Louvre – Exhibitions – Past Exhibitions – The La Caze Collection.|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher= louvre.fr  |access-date=May 23, 2009 |url-status=dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110917085817/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/exposition/detail_exposition.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673469921&CURRENT_LLV_EXPO%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673469921&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500927&bmLocale=en |archive-date=September 17, 2011 }}</ref>

Some of the best known paintings of the museum have been digitised by the French [[Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.technologies.c2rmf.fr/imaging/showcase|title=Galerie de tableaux en très haute définition|work=c2rmf.fr|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=12 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021546/http://technologies.c2rmf.fr/imaging/showcase|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
Quentin Massys 001.jpg|''[[The Money Changer and His Wife]]''; by [[Quentin Massys]]; 1514; oil on panel; 70.5 × 67&nbsp;cm
Giuseppe Arcimboldo - Spring, 1573.jpg|''Spring''; by [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]]; 1573; oil on canvas; 76 × 64&nbsp;cm
Suzanne et les vieillards - Giovanni Battista Pittoni - Q18573893.jpg|''[[Susanna and the Elders]]''; by [[Giambattista Pittoni]]; 1720; oil on panel; 37 × 46&nbsp;cm
La Continence de Scipion - Giovanni Battista Pittoni - Q18573892.jpg|''[[The Continence of Scipio]]''; by [[Giambattista Pittoni]]; 1733; oil on panel; 96 × 56&nbsp;cm
François boucher, diana che esce dal bagno, 1742, 01.jpg|''[[Diana Bathing (Boucher)|Diana after the Bath]]''; by [[François Boucher]]; 1742; oil on canvas; 73 × 56&nbsp;cm
Jacques-Louis David, Le Serment des Horaces.jpg|''[[Oath of the Horatii]]''; by [[Jacques-Louis David]]; 1784; oil on canvas; height: 330&nbsp;cm, width: 425&nbsp;cm
Jacques-Louis David 006.jpg|''[[The Coronation of Napoleon]]'' by [[Jacques-Louis David]]
</gallery>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" caption="Paintings by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] purchased by François I">
Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre).jpg|{{center|''[[Virgin of the Rocks]]''}}
Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with St Anne C2RMF retouched.jpg|{{center|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)]]''}}
</gallery>

=== Prints and drawings ===
The [[Old master print|prints]] and drawings department encompasses works on paper.{{R|Mignot|page=496}} The origins of the collection were the 8,600&nbsp;works in the Royal Collection (''Cabinet du Roi''), which were increased via state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200&nbsp;works from Fillipo Baldinucci's collection in 1806, and donations.{{R|Mignot|page=92}}<ref name="Drawing">{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211728&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211728&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181116&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |title=Prints and Drawings |publisher=Musée du Louvre |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220114305/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/presentation_departement.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211728&CURRENT_LLV_FICHE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673211728&CURRENT_LLV_DEP%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181116&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500768&bmLocale=en |archive-date=20 December 2008 }}</ref> The department opened on 5 August 1797, with 415&nbsp;pieces displayed in the Galerie d'Apollon. The collection is organised into three sections: the core ''Cabinet du Roi'', 14,000&nbsp;royal copper printing-plates, and the donations of [[Edmond James de Rothschild|Edmond de Rothschild]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edmond de Rothschild Collection at the Louvre |url=https://www.edmondderothschildfoundations.org/legacy-institutions/edmond-de-rothschild-louvre |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=www.edmondderothschildfoundations.org}}</ref> which include 40,000&nbsp;prints, 3,000&nbsp;drawings, and 5,000&nbsp;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.{{R|Mignot|page=496}}
{{Clear}}

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
Trois têtes d'hommes en relation avec le lion.jpg|Three lion-like heads; by [[Charles Le Brun]]; {{c.|1671}}; black chalk, pen and ink, brush and grey wash, white gouache on paper; 21.7 × 32.7&nbsp;cm
Antoine Coypel - Bacchus.jpg|''[[Bacchus]]''; by [[Antoine Coypel]]; black chalk, white highlights, and [[Sanguine (red chalk)|sanguine]]; 42.7 × 37.7&nbsp;cm
WATTEAU Antoine - Huit études de têtes de femme, et une tête d'homme.jpg|''Studies of Women's Heads and a Man's Head''; by [[Antoine Watteau]]; first half of the 18th century; sanguine, black chalk and white chalk on grey paper; 28 × 38.1&nbsp;cm
Edgar Degas - Ballet (L'Étoile).jpg|''Danseuse sur la scène''; by [[Edgar Degas]]; [[pastel]]; 58 × 42&nbsp;cm
Matthias Grünewald - Smiling Woman - WGA10822.jpg|Portrait of elderly woman, by [[Matthias Grünewald]]
Hans Holbein d. J. - Head of a Woman - WGA11590.jpg|Portrait of a young woman, by [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Hans Holbein]]
Andrea del Sarto - Head of a Young Man - WGA0384.jpg|Head of a man, by [[Andrea del Sarto]]
Biagio Pupini - Vierge à l'Enfant.jpg|Virgin and Child, by [[Biagio Pupini]]
</gallery>

== Management, administration, partnerships ==
[[File:Mona lisa crowd.jpg|thumb|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' is the Louvre's most popular attraction.]]
[[File:Paris - Restoration workshops in the Louvre - 2408.jpg|thumb|Restoration workshops in the Louvre]]
The Louvre is owned by the French government. Since the 1990s, its management and governance have been made more independent.<ref name="BBC">{{Cite news|title=New Boss at Louvre's helm|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1249145.stm|work=BBC News |access-date=25 September 2008 |date = 17 June 2002}}</ref><ref name="Sacre"/><ref name="LAtimes"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Louvre, Organization Chart |work=Louvre.fr Official Site |url=http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/organigramme.jsp |access-date=24 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510090653/http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/organigramme.jsp |archive-date=10 May 2008 }}</ref> Since 2003, the museum has been required to generate funds for projects.<ref name="LAtimes">{{cite news |last = Baum | first = Geraldine |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-14-ca-louvre14-story.html |title=Cracking the Louvre's code |date = 14 May 2006 |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=25 September 2008}}</ref> By 2006, government funds had dipped from 75&nbsp;percent of the total budget to 62&nbsp;percent. Every year, the Louvre now raises as much as it gets from the state, about €122&nbsp;million. The government pays for operating costs (salaries, safety, and maintenance), while the rest – new wings, refurbishments, acquisitions – is up to the museum to finance.<ref name="nytimes.com">Farah Nayeri (20 January 2009), [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/business/worldbusiness/20iht-louvre.4.19526510.html Banks compete to manage Louvre's endowment] ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.</ref> A further €3&nbsp;million to €5&nbsp;million a year is raised by the Louvre from exhibitions that it curates for other museums, while the host museum keeps the ticket money.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> As the Louvre became a point of interest in the book ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' and the 2006 film based on the book, the museum earned $2.5&nbsp;million by allowing filming in its galleries.<ref>{{cite news |last = Matlack | first = Carol |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,568466,00.html |title= The Business of Art: Welcome to The Louvre Inc. |date = 28 July 2008 |work=Der Spiegel Online |access-date=25 September 2008}}</ref><ref>Lunn, p. 137</ref> In 2008, the French government provided $180&nbsp;million of the Louvre's yearly $350&nbsp;million budget; the remainder came from private contributions and ticket sales.<ref name="Sacre">{{cite news |last = Gumbel | first = Peter |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1828324-1,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229130826/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1828324-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 December 2008 |title=Sacre Bleu! It's the Louvre Inc.|work=Time Magazine | date = 31 July 2008 |access-date=25 September 2008}}</ref>

The Louvre employs a staff of 2,000 led by Director [[Jean-Luc Martinez]],<ref>{{in lang|fr}}[http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2013/04/03/un-archeologue-prend-la-direction-du-louvre_3152530_3246.html Un archéologue prend la direction du Louvre], [[Le Monde]] du 3 April 2013.</ref> who reports to the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. Martinez replaced [[Henri Loyrette]] in April 2013. 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.<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="LAtimes"/> In 2006, it loaned 1,300&nbsp;works, which enabled it to borrow more foreign works. From 2006 to 2009, the Louvre lent artwork to the [[High Museum of Art]] in Atlanta, Georgia, and received a $6.9&nbsp;million payment to be used for renovations.<ref name="LAtimes"/>

In 2009, [[Minister of Culture (France)|Minister of culture]] [[Frédéric Mitterrand]] approved a plan that would have created a storage facility {{convert|30|km|abbr=on}} northwest of Paris to hold objects from the Louvre and two other national museums in Paris's flood zone, the [[Musée du Quai Branly]] and the [[Musée d'Orsay]]; the plan was later scrapped. In 2013, his successor [[Aurélie Filippetti]] announced that the Louvre would move more than 250,000 works of art<ref name="auto">Vincent Noce (13 July 2015), [http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/157551/ Louvre's superstore to go ahead despite protests] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715025743/http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/157551/ |date=15 July 2015 }} ''[[The Art Newspaper]]''.</ref> held in a {{convert|20000|m2|sqft}} basement storage area in [[Liévin]]; the cost of the project, estimated at €60&nbsp;million, will be split between the region (49%) and the Louvre (51%).<ref>Victoria Stapley-Brown (10 November 2014), [http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Designers-chosen-for-Louvres-m-storage-outpost/36260 Designers chosen for Louvre's €60m storage outpost] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111010540/http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Designers-chosen-for-Louvres-m-storage-outpost/36260 |date=11 November 2014 }} ''[[The Art Newspaper]]''.</ref> The Louvre will be the sole owner and manager of the store.<ref name="auto"/> In July 2015, a team led by British firm [[Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners]] was selected to design the complex, which will have light-filled work spaces under one vast, green roof.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 December 2017 |title=Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Breaks Ground on Green Roof Topped Louvre Storage Facility |url=https://www.archdaily.com/885576/rogers-stirk-harbour-plus-partners-breaks-ground-on-green-roof-topped-louvre-storage-facility |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=ArchDaily |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2012, the Louvre and the [[Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco]] announced a five-year collaboration on exhibitions, publications, art conservation and educational programming.<ref>Scarlet Cheng (15 November 2012), [http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Louvre+and+San+Francisco+museums+sign+five-year+deal/28063 Louvre and Sll Francisco museums sign five-year deal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616094543/http://theartnewspaper.com/articles/Louvre+and+San+Francisco+museums+sign+five-year+deal/28063 |date=16 June 2013 }} ''[[The Art Newspaper]]''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 November 2012 |title=Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Musée du Louvre Sign Accord |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/fine-arts-museums-of-san-francisco-and-the-musee-du-louvre-sign-accord-37366 |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=www.artforum.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The €98.5&nbsp;million expansion of the Islamic Art galleries in 2012 received state funding of €31&nbsp;million, as well as €17&nbsp;million from the [[Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation]] founded by the eponymous Saudi prince. The Republic of Azerbaijan, the Emir of Kuwait, the Sultan of Oman and [[King Mohammed VI of Morocco]] donated in total €26&nbsp;million. In addition, the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is supposed to provide €400&nbsp;million over the course of 30 years for its use of the museum's brand.<ref name="Islamic art, covered"/> Loyrette has tried to improve weak parts of the collection through income generated from loans of art and by guaranteeing that "20% of admissions receipts will be taken annually for acquisitions".<ref name="LAtimes"/> He has more administrative independence for the museum and achieved 90&nbsp;percent of galleries to be open daily, as opposed to 80&nbsp;percent previously. He oversaw the creation of extended hours and free admission on Friday nights and an increase in the acquisition budget to $36&nbsp;million from $4.5&nbsp;million.<ref name="Sacre"/><ref name="LAtimes"/>

In March 2018, an exhibition of dozens of artworks and relics belonging to France's Louvre Museum was opened to visitors in [[Tehran]], as a result of an agreement between Iranian and French presidents in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2018 |title=Louvre show opens in Tehran as cultural diplomacy thrives |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/06/louvre-show-in-tehran-france-iran-cultural-diplomacy-thrives |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> In the Louvre, two departments were allocated to the antiquities of the Iranian civilisation, and the managers of the two departments visited Tehran. Relics belonging to Ancient Egypt, Rome and Mesopotamia as well as French royal items were showcased at the Tehran exhibition.<ref>Noce, Vincent (5 March 2018). [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/second-time-lucky-louvre-seals-iran-deal Against the odds, Louvre exhibition opens in Tehran in historic deal]. ''The Art Newspaper''.</ref><ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/20180305-france-iran-louvre-lends-art-tehran-unprecedented-show-cultural-diplomacy "Louvre lends art to Tehran for 'unprecedented' show"]. France24, 5 March 2018.</ref><ref>[https://presse.louvre.fr/the-louvre-at-tehran/ "The Louvre at Tehran"]. Louvre's Press Room. March 2018.</ref>

Iran's [[National Museum of Iran|National Museum]] building was designed and constructed by French architect [[André Godard]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ifpnews.com/exclusive/exhibition-louvre-museums-items-opens-tehran/|title=Exhibition of Louvre Museum's Items Opens in Tehran|publisher=IFP News (Iran Front Page)|access-date=5 March 2018}}</ref> Following its time in Tehran, the exhibition is set to be held in the [[Khorasan Grand Museum]] in [[Mashhad]], northeastern Iran in June 2018.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://ifpnews.com/exclusive/mashhad-to-host-louvre-exhibit-after-end-of-tehran-show/ |title = Mashhad to Host Louvre Exhibit after End of Tehran Show|date = 16 April 2018}}</ref>

On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, the Louvre held the largest ever single exhibit of his work, from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prisco |first=Jacopo |title=Louvre debuts its biggest ever Leonardo exhibition |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/leonardo-da-vinci-louvre-exhibition/index.html |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=CNN |date=18 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Decoding da Vinci: Inside the largest Leonardo exhibition ever assembled |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/decoding-da-vinci-inside-the-largest-leonardo-exhibition-ever-assembled-1.4059138 |access-date=9 December 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> The event included over a hundred items: paintings, drawings and notebooks. A full 11 of the fewer than 20 paintings that Da Vinci completed in his lifetime were displayed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=23 October 2019 |title=A Guide to the Louvre's Gargantuan Leonardo da Vinci Retrospective |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/leonardo-da-vinci-louvre-guide-13452/ |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Five of them are owned by the Louvre, but the [[Mona Lisa]] was not included because it is in such great demand among visitors to the Louvre museum; the work remained on display in its gallery. [[Salvator Mundi (Leonardo)|Salvator Mundi]] was also not included since the Saudi owner did not agree to move the work from its hiding place. [[Vitruvian Man]], however, was on display, after a successful legal battle with its owner, the [[Galleria dell'Accademia]] in Venice.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/12/01/louvre-exhibit-has-most-da-vinci-paintings-ever-assembled/ |title=Leonardo da Vinci's Unexamined Life as a Painter |date=1 December 2019 |publisher=The Atlantic |access-date=1 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/12/leonardo-da-vinci-louvre-museum-his-life-painter/602800/ |title=Louvre exhibit has most da Vinci paintings ever assembled |date=1 December 2019 |publisher=Aleteia |access-date=1 December 2019 }}</ref>

In 2021, a Renaissance era ceremonial helmet and breastplate stolen from the museum in 1983 were recovered. The museum noted that the 1983 theft had "deeply troubled all the staff at the time." There are few publicly accessible details on the theft itself.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/world/europe/louvre-art-theft.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306141827/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/world/europe/louvre-art-theft.html |archive-date=6 March 2021 |url-access=limited |title=The Louvre Recovers Armor Pieces Stolen Nearly 40 Years Ago |work=The New York Times |date=6 March 2021 |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=3 March 2021 |title=Paris Louvre recovers 16th-century armour stolen nearly 40 years ago |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/03/paris-louvre-recovers-16th-century-armour-stolen-nearly-40-years-ago |access-date=17 January 2023 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

The current director of the Louvre is [[Laurence des Cars]], who was selected by French president Emmanuel Macron in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 May 2021 |title=Louvre appoints Laurence des Cars as first female president |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/louvre-appoints-laurence-des-cars-as-first-female-president |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=26 May 2021 |title=Laurence des Cars to Become First Woman to Direct Louvre |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/laurence-des-cars-louvre-director-1234594069/ |access-date=26 January 2023 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> She is the first woman to hold this position.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/laurence-des-cars-louvre-director-1234594069/ |title = Laurence des Cars to Become First Woman to Direct Louvre|date = 26 May 2021|work=ARTnews|first=Alex|last=Greenberger|access-date=2025-06-16}}</ref>
During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the Louvre has launched a digital platform where most of its works, including those that are not on display, can be seen. The database includes more than 482,000 illustrated records, representing 75% of the Louvre's collections.<ref>{{cite web|title=O Louvre ao alcance de todos!
| trans-title= The Louvre within everyone's reach!|url= https://omaringa.com.br/coluna/cultura-ale/2021/04/08/o-louvre-ao-alcance-de-todos/|first= Alexandre |last=Fernando da Silva| work= O Maringá|language=Portuguese|publisher=Jornal O Maringá|date= 8 April 2021|access-date=25 July 2021}}</ref> The museum was visited by over 7.6 million visitors in 2022, up 170 percent from 2021, but still below the 10.8 million visitors in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>[https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/arts-expos/la-frequentation-des-musees-parisiens-en-nette-hausse-en-2022-un-retour-a-la-normale-d-avant-pandemie-se-profile_5582568.html] (in French) FranceInfo Culture, 6 January 2023</ref>

In 2023, the Louvre Museum in Paris implemented a significant change in its pricing policy, marking the first price increase since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bennet |first=Oliver |date=2023-12-13 |title=Louvre Museum Implements 30% Ticket Price Increase Ahead of Olympics Year |url=https://thesportsheaven.com/news/louvre-museum-implements-30-ticket-price-increase-ahead-of-olympics-year/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=THESPORTSHEAVEN |language=en-US |archive-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213211902/https://thesportsheaven.com/news/louvre-museum-implements-30-ticket-price-increase-ahead-of-olympics-year/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The decision to raise ticket prices by 30% is part of a broader strategy aimed at supporting free entry during the Olympics and effectively managing the anticipated crowd. Director Laurence des Cars has introduced measures to regulate attendance, including capping daily visitors at 30,000 and planning a new entrance to alleviate congestion. These efforts are geared towards ensuring a top-notch experience for art enthusiasts during the Olympic Games, as the museum expects to host approximately 8.7 million visitors this year, with a remarkable 80% seeking to view the [[Mona Lisa]].

== Archaeological research ==
[[File:Louvre Excavations.jpg|thumb|List of excavations that benefited the Louvre (Rotonde d'Apollon)]]

The Louvre's ancient art collections are to a significant extent the product of excavations, some of which the museum sponsored under various legal regimes over time, often as a companion to France's diplomacy and colonial enterprises. In the {{lang|fr|Rotonde d'Apollon|italic=unset}}, a carved marble panel lists a number of such campaigns, led by:
* [[Louis-François-Sébastien Fauvel]] in Greece (1818)
* [[Jean-François Champollion]] in Egypt (1828–1829)
* [[Guillaume-Abel Blouet]] and [[Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois]] with the [[Morea expedition]] in Greece (1829)
* {{ill|Adolphe Delamare|fr}} in Algeria (1842–1845)
* [[Paul-Émile Botta]] in the [[Nineveh Plains]] (1845)
* {{ill|Joseph Vattier de Bourville|fr}} in [[Cyrenaica]] (1850)
* [[Auguste Mariette]] in Egypt (1850–1854)
* [[Victor Langlois (historian)|Victor Langlois]] in [[Cilicia]] (1852)
* [[Ernest Renan]] with the [[Mission de Phénicie]] following the [[1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus]] (1860–1861)
* [[Léon Heuzey]] and [[Honoré Daumet]] in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] (1861)
* [[Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé]] and [[Edmond Duthoit]] in Cyprus (1863–1866)
* [[Charles Champoiseau]] in [[Samothrace]] (1863)
* {{ill|Emmanuel Miller|de}} in [[Thessaloniki]] and [[Thasos]] (1864–1865)
* [[Olivier Rayet]] and [[Albert-Félix-Théophile Thomas]] in [[Ionia]] (1872–1873)
* [[Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau]] in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (1873)
* {{ill|Antoine Héron de Villefosse|fr}} in Algeria and Tunisia (1874)
* [[Ernest de Sarzec]] in Tello / ancient [[Girsu]], [[Mesopotamia]] (1877–1900)
* [[Paul Girard]] in Greece (1881)
* [[Edmond Pottier]], [[Salomon Reinach]] and Alphonse Veyries in [[Myrina (Aeolis)]] (1872–1873)
* [[Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy]] and [[Jane Dieulafoy]] in [[Susa]], Persia (1884–1886)
* Charles Huber in [[Tayma]], Arabia (1885)
* [[Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher]] in India and present-day Pakistan (1895–1897)
* [[Arthur Engel (numismatist)|Arthur Engel]] and {{ill|Pierre Paris (archaeologist)|lt=Pierre Paris|de|Pierre Paris|es|Pierre Paris|fr|Pierre Paris}} in Spain (1897)
* [[Jacques de Morgan]] in [[Susa]] (1897)
* [[Gaston Cros]] in Tello / ancient [[Girsu]] (1902)
* [[Paul Pelliot]] in [[Xinjiang|Chinese Turkestan]] (1907–1909)
* [[Maurice Pézard]] in Northern Palestine (1923)
* [[Georges Aaron Bénédite]] in Egypt (1926)
* [[François Thureau-Dangin]] in Northern Syria (1929)
* [[Henri de Genouillac]] in Mesopotamia (1912, 1929)
* the [[Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale]] in Cairo, created in 1880
The rest of the plaque combines donors of archaeological items, many of whom were archaeologists themselves, and other archaeologists whose excavations contributed to the Louvre's collections:
* {{ill|Frédéric Moreau (archeologist){{!}}Frédéric Moreau|fr|Frédéric Moreau (archéologue)}} in France (1899)
* [[Édouard Piette]] in France (1902)
* {{ill|Joseph de Baye|fr}} in France (1899–1906)
* Henri and [[Jacques de Morgan]] in Susa (1909–1910)
* {{ill|Léon Henri-Martin|fr}} (1906–1920) and his daughter Germaine in France (1976)
* {{ill|Louis Capitan|fr}} in France (1929)
* {{ill|René de Saint-Périer|fr}} and his wife Suzanne in France (1935)
* [[Fernand Bisson de la Roque]] in Egypt (1922–1950)
* [[Bernard Bruyère]] in Egypt (1920–1951)
* [[Raymond Weill]] in Egypt (1952)
* [[Pierre Montet]] in Egypt (1921–1956)
* {{ill|Jean Marie Casal|de}} in the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley]] and Afghanistan (1950–1973)
* {{ill|Suzanne de Saint-Mathurin|fr}} in France (1973)
* [[André Parrot]] in [[Mari, Syria]] (1931–1974)
* [[Claude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer]] in [[Ugarit]], Syria (1929–1970)
* [[Roman Ghirshman]] in Iraq and Iran (1931–1972)

== Satellites and offshoots ==
Several museums in and outside France have been or are placed under the Louvre's administrative authority or linked to it through exclusive partnerships, while not being located in the Louvre Palace. Since 2019, the Louvre has also maintained a large art storage and research facility in the Northern French town of [[Liévin]], the {{ill|Centre de conservation du Louvre|fr}}, which is not open to the public.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=12 February 2021 |title=A New, Safe Home for the Louvre's Unseen Treasures |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/arts/design/louvre-lievin-conservation-center.html |access-date=17 January 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Musée de Cluny (1926–1977) ===
{{Main|Musée de Cluny}}

In February 1926, the [[Musée de Cluny]], whose creation dates back to the 19th century, was brought under the aegis of the Louvre's department of decorative arts ({{lang|fr|Objets d'Art}}).<ref>{{cite web|website=French National Archives |url=https://www.siv.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/siv/rechercheconsultation/consultation/ir/pdfIR.action?irId=FRAN_IR_053949 |page=7 |title=Archives des musées nationaux, musée de cluny (Série J) – répertoire numérique n° 20144783 |author=Hélène Brossier |date=2014}}</ref> That affiliation was terminated in 1977.<ref>{{citation|journal=Grande Galerie – le Journal du Louvre |volume=52 |date=Autumn 2020 |page=12 |title=Alain Erlande-Brandebourg, l'homme des cathédrales |author=Sophie Jugie}}</ref>

=== Musée du Jeu de Paume (1947–1986) ===
{{Main|Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume}}

The {{lang|fr|Jeu de Paume}} building in the [[Tuileries Garden]], initially intended as a sports venue, was repurposed from 1909 as an art gallery. In 1947, it became the exhibition space for the Louvre's collections of late 19th and early 20th paintings, most prominently [[Impressionism]], as the Louvre Palace was lacking space to display them, and was consequently brought under direct management by the Louvre's {{lang|fr|Département des Peintures}}. In 1986, these collections were transferred to the newly created [[Musée d'Orsay]].<ref>{{cite web |website=Jeu de Paume |url=https://jeudepaume.org/le-jeu-de-paume/le-jeu-de-paume-en-10-dates/ |title=Le Jeu de Paume en 10 dates |access-date=19 August 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819165553/https://jeudepaume.org/le-jeu-de-paume/le-jeu-de-paume-en-10-dates/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon (since 1976) ===
{{Main|Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon}}

The Musée du Petit Palais opened in 1976 in the former urban mansion of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon|archbishops of Avignon]], close to the [[Palais des Papes|Papal Palace]] in [[Avignon]]. An initiative led by Avignon Mayor {{ill|Henri Duffaut|fr}} and Louvre President-Director [[Michel Laclotte]], part of its permanent collection is made of artworks from the {{ill|Collection Campana|fr}} deposited by the Louvre. On {{date|2024-04-02}}, a new agreement between the City of Avignon and the Louvre allowed its rebranding as {{lang|fr|Musée du Petit Palais – Louvre en Avignon}}.<ref>{{citation|journal=Grande Galerie – le Journal du Louvre |volume=67 |date=Summer 2024 |page=14 |title=Louvre en Avignon, Acte 2 : Rencontre entre Laurence des Cars, présidente-directrice du musée du Louvre, et Cécile Helle, maire d'Avignon |author=Valérie Coudin}}</ref>

=== Gypsothèque du Louvre (since 2001) ===
The {{lang|fr|[[gypsotheque|gypsothèque]]}} (plaster cast gallery) of the Louvre is a collection of [[plaster cast]]s that was formed in 1970 by the reunion of the corresponding inventories of the Louvre, the {{lang|fr|[[Beaux-Arts de Paris]]|italic=no}} and the Art and Archaeology Institute of the [[Sorbonne University]], the latter two following depredations during the [[May 68]] student unrest. Initially called the {{lang|fr|Musée des Monuments Antiques}} from 1970 to 1978, the project was subsequently left unfinished and only came to fruition after being brought under the Louvre's management by ministerial decision in 2001.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jean-Luc Martinez |title=La gypsothèque du musée du Louvre à Versailles |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |volume=153 |date=2009 |issue=3 |pages=1127–1152 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2009_num_153_3_92593}}</ref> It is located in the [[Petite Écurie]], a dependency of [[Versailles Palace]], and has been open to the public since 2012.<ref>{{cite web|website=Connaissance des Arts |url=https://www.connaissancedesarts.com/monuments-patrimoine/chateau-versailles/la-gypsotheque-du-louvre-rouvre-a-versailles-1120180/ |author=Benoît Lafay |date=17 October 2012 |title=La gypsothèque du Louvre rouvre à Versailles}}</ref>

=== Musée Delacroix (since 2004) ===
{{Main|Musée national Eugène Delacroix}}

The small museum located in [[Eugène Delacroix]]'s former workshop in central Paris, created in the 1930s, has been placed under management by the Louvre since 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/the-louvre-in-france-and-around-the-world/the-musee-national-eugene-delacroix |website=Louvre |title=The musée national Eugène-Delacroix}}</ref>

=== Louvre-Lens (since 2012) ===
{{Main|Louvre-Lens}}

The Louvre-Lens follows a May 2003 initiative by then culture minister [[Jean-Jacques Aillagon]] to promote cultural projects outside of Paris that would make the riches of major Parisian institutions available to a broader French public, including a satellite ({{lang|fr|antenne}}) of the Louvre.<ref>{{cite web|website=LaDepeche.fr |title=Jean-Jacques Aillagon dévoile son plan de décentralisation culturelle |url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2003/05/27/197315-jean-jacques-aillagon-devoile-son-plan-de-decentralisation-culturelle.html |date=27 May 2003}}</ref> After several rounds of competition, a former mining site in the town of [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]] was selected for its location and announced by Prime Minister [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]] on 2004-11-29. Japanese architects [[SANAA]] and landscape architect Catherine Mosbach were respectively selected in September 2005 to design the museum building and garden. Inaugurated by President [[François Hollande]] on 2012-12-04, the Louvre-Lens is run by the [[Hauts-de-France]] region under a contract ({{lang|fr|convention scientifique et culturelle}}) with the Louvre for art loans and brand use. Its main attraction is an exhibition of roughly 200 artworks from the Louvre on a rotating basis, presented chronologically in a single large room (the {{lang|fr|Galerie du Temps}} or "gallery of time") that transcends the geographical and object-type divisions along which the Parisian Louvre's displays are organised. The Louvre-Lens has been successful at attracting around 500,000 visitors per year until the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|website=France Bleu |title=2019 a été un excellent millésime pour le Louvre-Lens avec plus de 530 000 visiteurs |date=10 January 2020 |author=Claire Mesureur |url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/culture-loisirs/2019-a-ete-un-excellent-millesime-pour-le-louvre-lens-avec-plus-de-530-mille-visiteurs-1578588346}}</ref>

=== Louvre Abu Dhabi (since 2017) ===
{{Main|Louvre Abu Dhabi}}

The [[Louvre Abu Dhabi]] is a separate entity from the Louvre, but the two entities have a multifaceted contractual relationship that allows the Emirati museum to use the Louvre name until 2037, and to exhibit artworks from the Louvre until 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Louvre Abu Dhabi |url=https://www.louvre.fr/en/the-louvre-in-france-and-around-the-world/the-louvre-abu-dhabi |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=Le Louvre |language=en}}</ref> It was inaugurated on 2017-11-08 and opened to the public three days later. A 30-year agreement, signed in early 2007 by French Culture Minister [[Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres]] and Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, establishes that Abu Dhabi shall pay €832,000,000 (US$1.3&nbsp;billion) in exchange for the Louvre name use, managerial advice, art loans, and special exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2007 |title=Louvre to build branch in Abu Dhabi |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17482641 |access-date=17 January 2023 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The Louvre Abu Dhabi is located on [[Saadiyat Island]] and was designed by the French architect [[Jean Nouvel]] and engineering firm of [[Buro Happold]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louvre Abu Dhabi |url=http://www.jeannouvel.com/en/projects/louvre-abou-dhabi-3/ |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=Ateliers Jean Nouvel |language=en-US}}</ref> It occupies {{convert|24000|m2|sqft}} and is covered by an iconic metallic dome designed to cast rays of light mimicking sunlight passing through [[date palm]] fronds in an [[oasis]]. The French art loans, expected to total between 200 and 300&nbsp;artworks during a 10-year period, come from multiple museums, including the Louvre, the [[Centre Georges Pompidou]], the [[Musée d'Orsay]], [[Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles|Versailles]], the [[Guimet Museum]], the [[Musée Rodin]], and the [[Musée du quai Branly]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/arts/design/07louv.html|title=The Louvre's Art: Priceless. The Louvre's Name: Expensive.|work=The New York Times |date=6 March 2007|access-date=24 April 2008 | first=Alan | last=Riding}}</ref>

== Controversies ==
The Louvre is involved in controversies that surround cultural property [[Napoleonic looting of art|seized]] under Napoleon I,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Savoy |first1=Bénédicte |title=Patrimoine annexé. Les biens culturel saisis par la France en Allemagne autour de 1800 |date=2003 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’homme |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-7351-0988-3 |url=https://books.openedition.org/editionsmsh/52022|language=fr}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2025}} as well as during World War II [[Nazi plunder|by the Nazis]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Napoleon plundered Europe's art to bring prestige home to France |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2021/0812/Napoleon-plundered-Europe-s-art-to-bring-prestige-home-to-France |access-date=2024-05-15 |work=Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Riding |first=Alan |date=1994-10-25 |title=Art Looted by Nazis Goes on Show in Paris, Seeking Its Owners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/25/arts/art-looted-by-nazis-goes-on-show-in-paris-seeking-its-owners.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In the early 2010s, workers' rights in the construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi were also a point of controversy for the museum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-08 |title=The Louvre Abu Dhabi's Unlovely Back Story {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/08/louvre-abu-dhabis-unlovely-back-story |access-date=2024-05-15 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Napoleonic looting ===
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, though the vast majority of the latter were seized as war reparations by the British army and are now part of collections of the [[British Museum]]. On the other hand, the [[Dendera zodiac]] is, like the [[Rosetta Stone]], claimed by Egypt even though it was acquired in 1821, before the Egyptian Anti-export legislation of 1835. The Louvre administration has thus argued in favour of retaining this item despite requests by Egypt for its return. The museum participates too in arbitration sessions held via [[UNESCO]]'s Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin.<ref>Merryman, abstract</ref> The museum consequently returned in 2009 five Egyptian fragments of frescoes (30&nbsp;cm x 15&nbsp;cm each) whose existence of the tomb of origin had only been brought to the authorities attention in 2008, eight to 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.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 October 2009 |title=Le Louvre se dit "satisfait" de la restitution des fresques égyptiennes Culture |url=http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualite/culture/20091009.OBS4116/le-louvre-se-dit-satisfait-de-la-restitution-des-fresques-egyptiennes.html |access-date=21 August 2011 |publisher=Tempsreel.nouvelobs.com}}</ref>

=== Nazi looting ===
[[Federico Gentili Di Giuseppe|During]] [[German occupation of France during World War II|Nazi occupation]], thousands of artworks were stolen.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Breeden |first=Aurelien |date=8 February 2018 |title=Art Looted by Nazis Gets a New Space at the Louvre. But Is It Really Home? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/world/europe/louvre-nazi-looted-art.html |access-date=9 December 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> But after the war, 61,233 articles of more than 150,000 seized artworks returned to France and were assigned to the Office des Biens Privés.<ref>[https://collections.louvre.fr/en/album/1 National Museums Recovery, MNR works at the musée du Louvre], website louvre.fr.</ref> In 1949, it entrusted 2,130 unclaimed pieces (including 1,001 paintings) to the Direction des Musées de France in order to keep them under appropriate conditions of conservation until their restitution and meanwhile classified them as MNRs (Musées Nationaux Recuperation or, in English, the National Museums of Recovered Artwork). Some 10% to 35% of the pieces are believed to come from Jewish spoliations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/mnr/Matteoli/RM-musees-nationaux.pdf |title=Rapport Matteoli, Le pillage de l'art en France pendant l'occupation et la situation des 2000 oeuvres confiées aux Musées nationaux, pp. 50, 60, 69 |access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> and until the identification of their rightful owners, which declined at the end of the 1960s, they are registered indefinitely on separate inventories from the museum's collections.<ref>[https://collections.louvre.fr/en/album/1 National Museum Recovery, MNR works at the musée du Louvre], website collections.louvre.fr.</ref>

They were exhibited in 1946 and shown all together to the public during four years (1950–1954) in order to allow rightful claimants to identify their properties, then stored or displayed, according to their interest, in several French museums including the Louvre. From 1951 to 1965, about 37 pieces were restituted. Since November 1996, the partly illustrated catalogue of 1947–1949 has been accessible online and completed. 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 is in charge of 678&nbsp;pieces of artwork still unclaimed by their rightful owners.<ref>Rickman, p.&nbsp;294</ref> During the late 1990s, the comparison of the American war archives, which had not been done before, with the French and German ones as well as two court cases which finally settled some of the heirs' rights ([[Federico Gentili Di Giuseppe|Gentili di Giuseppe]] and Rosenberg families) allowed more accurate investigations. Since 1996, the restitutions, according sometimes to less formal criteria, concerned 47 more pieces (26 paintings, with 6 from the Louvre including a then displayed Tiepolo), until the last claims of French owners and their heirs ended again in 2006.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

According to [[Serge Klarsfeld]], since the now complete and constant 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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

=== Construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi ===
In 2011, over 130 international artists urged a boycott of the new Guggenheim museum as well as Louvre Abu Dhabi, citing reports, since 2009, of abuses of foreign construction workers on Saadiyat Island, including the arbitrary withholding of wages, unsafe working conditions, and failure of companies to pay or reimburse the steep recruitment fees being charged to labourers.<ref name="boycott">{{cite news| title=Abu Dhabi Guggenheim Faces Protest| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/guggenheim-threatened-with-boycott-over-abu-dhabi-project.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/guggenheim-threatened-with-boycott-over-abu-dhabi-project.html |archive-date=3 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| author=Nicolai Ouroussoff| date=16 March 2011| work=The New York Times| access-date=21 October 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/04/20114342518230176.html|title=Artists urge Guggenheim boycott|date=3 April 2011|publisher=Al Jazeera}}</ref> According to ''[[Architectural Record]]'', Abu Dhabi has comprehensive labour laws to protect the workers, but they are not conscientiously implemented or enforced.<ref name=Fixsen>Fixsen, Anna. [http://archrecord.construction.com/news/2014/09/140922-Frank-Gehry-Works-to-Improve-Worker-Conditions-on-Abu-Dhabi-Site.asp :What Is Frank Gehry Doing About Labor Conditions in Abu Dhabi?"], ''[[Architectural Record]]'', 25 September 2014</ref> In 2010, the Guggenheim Foundation placed on its website a joint statement with Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) recognising the following workers' rights issues, among others: health and safety of the workers; their access to their passports and other documents that the employers have been retaining to guaranty that they stay on the job; using a general contractor that agrees to obey the labour laws; maintaining an independent site monitor; and ending the system that has been generally used in the Persian Gulf region of requiring workers to reimburse recruitment fees.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.guggenheim.org/abu-dhabi/about/joint-statement-on-workers-rights |title=Joint Statement on Workers' Rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703224025/http://www.guggenheim.org/abu-dhabi/about/joint-statement-on-workers-rights |archive-date=3 July 2014 |website=Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation |date=22 September 2010 |access-date=8 October 2014}}</ref>

In 2013, ''[[The Observer]]'' reported that conditions for the workers at the Louvre and New York University construction sites on Saadiyat amounted to "modern-day slavery".<ref name=Carrick>Carrick, Glenn and David Batty. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/abu-dhabi-happiness-island-misery "In Abu Dhabi, they call it Happiness Island. But for the migrant workers, it is a place of misery"], ''The Observer'', 22 December 2013, accessed 30 June 2014; Batty, David. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/abu-dhabi-migrant-workers-conditions-shame-west "Conditions for Abu Dhabi's migrant workers 'shame the west{{'"}}], ''The Observer'', 22 December 2013, accessed 1 December 2014; Batty, David. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/uae-migrant-workers-exploitation-emirate-criticised "Campaigners criticise UAE for failing to tackle exploitation of migrant workers"], ''The Observer'', 22 December 2013, accessed 30 June 2014</ref><ref>Rosenbaum, Lee. [http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2013/12/guardian-expose-substandard-conditions-reportedly-persist-for-some-abu-dhabi-construction-workers-plus-guggenheims-tdics-reactions.html "''Guardian'' Exposé: Substandard Conditions Reportedly Persist for Some Abu Dhabi Construction Workers (plus Guggenheim's, TDIC's reactions) updated"], CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, 24 December 2013</ref> In 2014, the Guggenheim's Director, [[Richard Armstrong (museum director)|Richard Armstrong]], said that he believed that living conditions for the workers at the Louvre project were now good and that "many fewer" of them were having their passports confiscated. He stated that the main issue then remaining was the recruitment fees charged to workers by agents who recruit them.<ref>Rosenbaum, Lee. [http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2014/04/satellite-museums-panel-my-interchange-with-guggenheims-richard-armstrong-on-abu-dhabi-human-rights-concerns.html {{"'}}Satellite Museums' Panel: My Interchange with Guggenheim's Richard Armstrong on Abu Dhabi Human-Rights Concerns"], CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, 24 April 2014</ref><ref name=Kaminer>Kaminer, Ariel and Sean O'Driscoll. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/nyregion/workers-at-nyus-abu-dhabi-site-face-harsh-conditions.html?_r=0 "Workers at N.Y.U.'s Abu Dhabi Site Faced Harsh Conditions"], ''The New York Times'', 18 May 2014</ref> Later in 2014, the Guggenheim's architect, Gehry, commented that working with the Abu Dhabi officials to implement the law to improve the labour conditions at the museum's site is "a moral responsibility."<ref name=Fixsen/> He encouraged the TDIC to build additional worker housing and proposed that the contractor cover the cost of the recruitment fees. In 2012, TDIC engaged [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] as an independent monitor required to issue reports every quarter. Labour lawyer Scott Horton told ''Architectural Record'' that he hoped the Guggenheim project will influence the treatment of workers on other Saadiyat sites and will "serve as a model for doing things right."<ref name=Fixsen/><ref>Rosenbaum, Lee. [http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2016/02/guggenheim-abu-dhabi-still-stalled-as-monitoring-report-is-issued-on-saadiyat-island-labor-conditions.html "Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Still Stalled, as Monitoring Report Is Issued on Saadiyat Island Labor Conditions"], CultureGrrl, ArtsJournal.com, 4 February 2016</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Arts|Visual arts|History|France}}
* [[Hôtel du Louvre]]
* [[List of museums in Paris]]
* [[Musée de la mode et du textile]]
* [[List of tourist attractions in Paris]]
* [[List of largest art museums]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
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* {{Cite book|title=A Short History of the French Revolution|edition=6th|first=Jeremy D|last=Popkin|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-205-96845-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmaIoAEACAAJ&q=a+short+history+of+the+french+revolution}}
* {{Cite book| last=Rickman| first=Gregg| title=Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls| publisher=Transaction Publishers| isbn=1-56000-426-6| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=by4SG25lAA0C&q=Matt%C3%A9oli+Commission+louvre&pg=PA251| oclc=40698624| year=1999}}
* {{Cite book |author=Rogers, Elizabeth A. |title=Landscape design: a cultural and architectural history |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |location=New York |year=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/landscapedesignc00roge |url-access=registration |quote=results tuileries fire louvre axis. |isbn=0-8109-4253-4 |oclc=186087857 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Savoy |first1=Bénédicte |title=Patrimoine annexé. Les biens culturel saisis par la France en Allemagne autour de 1800 |date=2003 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’homme |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-7351-0988-3 |url=https://books.openedition.org/editionsmsh/52022}}
* {{Cite book|title=Napoleon in Egypt|first=Paul|last=Strathern|publisher=Bantam | year=2009|isbn=978-0-553-38524-3|oclc=299706472}}
* {{Cite book | last=Sturdy | first=David | title=Science and social status: the members of the Académie des sciences 1666–1750 | year=1995 | publisher=Boydell Press | location=Woodbridge, Suffolk | isbn=0-85115-395-X | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLsNxkRXiNAC&q=francois+I+keep+Louvre | oclc=185477008 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ Digital Collection]
* [http://www.stockholm360.net/list.php?id=louvre Louvre's 360x180 degree panorama virtual tour]
* [https://www.theparisianguide.com/s/louvre-museum/ Louvre Museum - The Parisian Guide]
* [https://www.louvre.fr/en/online-tours Louvre virtual tours]

{{Louvre}}
{{Louvre Museum}}
{{Visitor attractions in Paris}}
{{Établissement public à caractère administratif}}
{{1st arrondissement of Paris}}
{{Authority control}}
{{WikidataCoord}}

[[Category:Louvre| ]]
[[Category:1793 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Archaeological museums in France]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Paris]]
[[Category:1793 in art]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in the 1790s]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1793]]
[[Category:Egyptological collections in France]]
[[Category:Institut de France]]
[[Category:Louvre Palace]]
[[Category:Museums in Paris]]
[[Category:Museums of ancient Greece in France]]
[[Category:Museums of the ancient Near East in France]]
[[Category:Museums of ancient Rome in France]]
[[Category:National museums of France]]
[[Category:Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients]]