Macron announces major overhaul to modernize Louvre and dedicated room for Mona Lisa

Macron’s announcement comes aft the Louvre manager Laurence des Cars expressed concerns implicit the “very mediocre condition” of immoderate of the museum’s spaces. The Louvre’s latest overhaul dates backmost to the 1980s, erstwhile the iconic solid pyramid was unveiled. Now, the depository is not up to planetary standards anymore. A look astatine what’s astatine stake.

Water leaks and different damage

Des Cars sent a enactment expressing a bid of concerns to Culture Minister Rachida Dati earlier this period saying the depository is threatened by “obsolescence.” According to the papers archetypal released by French paper Le Parisien, she warned astir the gradual degradation of the gathering owed to h2o leaks, somesthesia variations and different issues “endangering the preservation of artworks.” The pyramid that serves astatine the museum’s entrance, unveiled successful 1989 arsenic portion of precocious President François Mitterrand’s project, present appears outdated.

The Louvre’s latest overhaul dates backmost to the 1980s, erstwhile the iconic solid pyramid was unveiled. (AP photo)

The spot is not decently insulated from the acold and the vigor and tends to amplify noise, making the abstraction uncomfortable for some the nationalist and the staff, des Cars stressed. In addition, the depository suffers from a deficiency of nutrient offerings and restroom facilities, she said.

A costly and analyzable overhaul

“We’re faced with a corporate challenge,” an authoritative astatine the French presidency said. “That is, however tin we accommodate the Louvre to expectations, invited visitors from crossed the satellite successful comfy conditions and besides beryllium starring a committedness for creator and taste education?”

The authoritative could not beryllium named successful enactment with the French presidency’s customary practices.The financing needed for specified a large renovation has not been specified, but immoderate renovation enactment astatine the erstwhile royal palace is expected to beryllium costly and technically complicated. The Pompidou Center, different large depository successful Paris, is acceptable to adjacent to acquisition a five-year renovation worthy 262 cardinal euro ($273 million), starting from the extremity of the year. Half the Louvre’s budget is financed by the French state, including the wages of the 2,200 employees.

The different fractional is provided by backstage funds including summons sales, net from restaurants, shops and bookings for peculiar events, arsenic good arsenic patrons and different partners. That includes the United Arab Emirates’ financing for the close to usage the marque for the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum.

May Mona Lisa person its ain room?

Questions originate astir however the Mona Lisa should beryllium displayed successful the museum.

Des Cars asked for the contented to beryllium “reassessed,” suggesting a imaginable transportation of the museum’s astir fashionable attraction to different country that would beryllium specifically dedicated to it.The Mona Lisa is present being shown down protective solid successful the museum’s largest room, overcrowded with long, noisy queues of visitors anxious to instrumentality a selfie with Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.

That makes immoderate different paintings successful the country by the top Venetian painters similar Titian and Veronese spell unnoticed by many. The museum’s latest large renovation successful the 1980s was designed to person 4 cardinal yearly visitors. Last year, the Louvre received 8.7 cardinal visitors, implicit three-quarters being foreigners mostly from the United States, China and neighboring countries Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain.