The Louvre museum in Paris is home to hundreds of thousands of the world's most treasured pieces of art, antiquities and artifacts dating from ancient times to the recent past. Thousands of visitors take in the awe-inspiring collections of the Louvre each day, helping the museum to promote art appreciation and understanding to millions of people from all over the world.
History
Philip II built the fortress that would become the Louvre in the 12th century to help protect Paris from Anglo-Norman aggression. Throughout the Middle Ages the Louvre was remodeled, becoming a royal residence in the 14th century. In the mid-16th century, the Louvre was remodeled according to the popular French Renaissance architectural style of the period. When Louis XIV constructed Versailles and made it the royal residence, much of the construction and remodeling of the Louvre ceased, as royal interest in the building faded. However, it was during this time that the Louvre began to be used as housing for many of the country's artists.
Louis XV in 1750 first approved the idea of using the Louvre as a public museum, approving a measure that allowed public viewings of the royal art collection two days a week. As a result of the French Revolution, the Louvre and its contents became property of the state, and a free-to-the-public museum opened in 1793. Part of the country's budget was dedicated to the upkeep and expansion of the Louvre, a policy that is still in effect today. Since then, the Louvre has gained tens of thousands of pieces and expanded in size and stature as the most visited museum in the world.
Significance
As the most visited museum, the Louvre averages about 15,000 visitors every day, the majority of which are foreign tourists. The Louvre, situated on the Right Bank of the Seine River, is also a historical landmark and the national museum of France. Home to some of the most important artworks and archeological finds from antiquity to modern day, the Louvre plays a major role in art preservation, restoration and appreciation on a global level.
Features
The art collection of the Louvre is organized into eight curatorial departments:
The Near Eastern Antiquities collection of the Louvre includes ancient, pre-Islamic artifacts from the Levant, Mesopotamia and Iran.
There are over 50,000 pieces in the Louvre's Egyptian Antiquities collection, including artwork spanning thousands of years--from the period of Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom and forms of Coptic art--up to the Roman, Ptolemaic and Byzantine time periods in the first centuries A.D.
One of the oldest collections in the Louvre, the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities collection includes pieces dating from 4,000 B.C. to the decline of the Roman Empire in the 6th century A.D.
Islamic Art houses artwork inspired by the Islamic faith from the last thirteen centuries.
The Sculptures collection of the Louvre includes pre-1850 sculptures with many notable Medieval and Renaissance pieces.
In the Louvre's Decorate Arts collection, pieces including bronzes, tapestries, ceramics, jewelry, ivories and furniture from the Middle Ages to 1850 are housed.
The extensive Paintings collection of the Louvre has thousands of works dating from the 1200s to 1848. Twelve curators manage the collection, home to examples of all European schools of art from the period.
All of the Prints and Drawings collection in the Louvre are on paper, which due to the fragility of the medium are only displayed on a temporary basis.
Considerations
The Louvre has over 60,000 pieces of art, with 35,000 objects on display to the public in the eight permanent collections, comprising 652,000 square feet of the museum. Around half of the annual $350 million budget of the Louvre is funded by the government, with the rest coming from ticket sales and donations.
Benefits
Visitors to the Louvre can see first-hand one of the most famous paintings of all time, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. This renowned work of art was painted between 1503 and 1506 and was acquired by Francis I as part of his private art collection. The Mona Lisa has been considered the highlight of all of the thousands of pieces at the Louvre because of the mystery behind the identity of the woman in the painting, the novel half-length technique used by da Vinci in his masterpiece and the much-remarked-upon smile that adorns Mona Lisa's face.
