Louvre

The Louvre, or the Louvre Museum of Arts, is a national art museum in Paris, France. It used to be a royal palace. It is very famous for its amazing paintings, including the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Louvre is on the Right Bank of the Seine river in the city's 1st arrondissement. It has many famous artworks, like the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory. The building was first built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Many French kings changed and expanded it over time.

The Louvre opened as a museum on August 10, 1793. It showed paintings that were once owned by kings or churches. The museum grew larger and richer, especially when Napoleon brought back many artworks from his travels. Today, the Louvre has around 500,000 objects, with about 35,000 works of art on display at any time. It is the largest museum in the world and a very famous place to see beautiful art.

Location and visiting

The Louvre Museum is inside the Louvre Palace in central Paris, next to the Tuileries Gardens. The closest Métro stops are Louvre–Rivoli and Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre, with one leading to the Carrousel du Louvre shopping area.

Since 1993, the main way to enter the Louvre is through an underground area under the Louvre Pyramid, called Hall Napoléon. Visitors can enter from the pyramid, the Carrousel du Louvre, or through a special path called passage Richelieu linked to nearby rue de Rivoli. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays but open other days except for some holidays.

Photographs are allowed inside, but using flash is not permitted. Since 2012, the museum has used special Nintendo 3DS systems as guides for visitors, offering audio and pictures of the art and the building itself. This guide will change in 2025 to a new system.

History

Before the museum

The Louvre Palace started in the late 1200s to help protect the city. It changed from a military building to a royal home. Kings and queens collected famous artworks, including the Mona Lisa, which became part of the Louvre's collection.

Revolutionary opening

During the French Revolution, the Louvre opened as a public museum. People could visit free on certain days. The museum showed many paintings and artworks from royal collections and other sources.

Napoleonic era

Napoleon added to the Louvre's collections through military victories. He renamed it Musée Napoléon and brought in many artworks from other countries.

From 1815 to 1852

After Napoleon, different leaders added to the Louvre's collections. New sections opened, including one for Egyptian art.

Second Empire

Napoleon III changed the Louvre building a lot and added many new artworks. He created new spaces and sections for different types of art.

From 1870 to 1981

The Louvre survived fires and wars. It added new artworks through donations and excavations. The museum changed its focus over time, moving some collections to other museums.

Grand Louvre

In the 1980s, the Louvre had big changes. A glass pyramid entrance was added, and new underground spaces were created. More galleries opened, showing French and other artworks.

21st century

New departments opened, including one for Islamic art. The Louvre faced challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced visitor numbers. Plans for future renovations were announced to handle growing crowds.

Collections

The Louvre Museum in Paris has a very large collection of art with over 615,000 objects. About 35,000 of these artworks are shown in eight different areas.

The Louvre has some of the world’s most famous art pieces from many cultures and times. You can see well-known works like the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, along with items from ancient places such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The museum also has decorative arts, Islamic art, and sculptures.

Egyptian antiquities

The Egyptian section has over 50,000 items from around 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD. These include art and everyday objects from Ancient Egypt, showing life from different time periods. The collection began with royal items and grew with discoveries made during trips led by Dominique Vivant. It includes important pieces such as The Seated Scribe and is guarded by the Great Sphinx of Tanis.

Near Eastern antiquities

This section, started in 1881, shows early civilizations from the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia (Iran). It includes important statues and laws like the Code of Hammurabi and items from places such as Sumer and Akkad.

Greek, Etruscan, and Roman

This area displays art from the Mediterranean from the Neolithic period to the 6th century. It includes famous sculptures like the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, along with pottery and statues from Greece, Etruria, and Rome.

Islamic art

The Islamic art collection includes over 5,000 works from the 7th to the 19th centuries, spanning three continents. Items include ceramics, metalwork, and textiles from places as far as Spain to India.

Sculptures

The sculpture collection features works made before 1850 that don’t belong to the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman area. It includes French and foreign sculptures from the Middle Ages through the 19th century.

Decorative arts

This collection includes beautiful objects from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century, such as crowns, jewelry, and furniture. Items range from medieval coronation crowns to elegant furniture from the time of Napoleon III.

Painting

The painting collection has over 7,500 works from the 13th century to 1848. It includes famous paintings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Jacques-Louis David, and Johannes Vermeer. Many pieces come from royal collections and were added after the French Revolution.

Prints and drawings

This area has works on paper, including prints and drawings from the Royal Collection and donations. These delicate artworks are carefully displayed due to their fragility.

Gallery of the Five Continents

Opened in December 2025, this gallery shows 130 artworks from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. It aims to tell a more connected story of human creativity by bringing together art from around the world.

Management, administration, partnerships

The Louvre is owned by the French government. Since the 1990s, it has been able to manage itself more. Since 2003, the museum has needed to find money for its projects. By 2006, government money was only 62 percent of its total budget. Each year, the Louvre raises as much money as it gets from the government, about €122 million. The government pays for running costs, while the museum pays for new parts, updates, and buying new art.

The Louvre has 2,000 staff led by a director who reports to the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. In 2012, the Louvre and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco began working together on shows, books, taking care of art, and learning programs. In 2019, the Louvre had a big show for the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. In 2021, the Louvre started a digital platform where most of its art can be seen online. In 2023, the Louvre raised ticket prices by 30% to help with crowds during the Olympics.

Archaeological research

The Louvre's collection of ancient art grew from many digs. The museum often helped with these digs. These digs took place in many parts of the world. They show how the museum has collected treasures from many cultures. Some important leaders of these digs traveled to Greece, Egypt, and other places to find and bring back important pieces of history.

Satellites and offshoots

Several museums in and outside France are connected to the Louvre through special agreements, even if they are not in the Louvre Palace itself. Since 2019, the Louvre has had a big storage and research space in a town called Liévin in northern France. This place is not open to the public.

The Musée de Cluny was linked to the Louvre from 1926 to 1977. The Musée du Jeu de Paume showed the Louvre’s paintings from 1947 to 1986 before its collection moved to the Musée d'Orsay.

Since 1976, the Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon has displayed artworks from the Louvre’s collection. In 2024, it changed its name to Musée du Petit Palais – Louvre en Avignon.

The Louvre also has a special gallery of plaster copies of artworks called the Gypsothèque du Louvre, which opened to the public in 2012. It is located near Versailles Palace.

The small Musée Delacroix in Paris has been managed by the Louvre since 2004.

Louvre-Lens

The Louvre-Lens opened in 2012 in the town of Lens. It shows about 200 artworks from the Louvre, changing over time, in one big room. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it welcomed around 500,000 visitors each year.

Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi opened in 2017 on Saadiyat Island. It can use the Louvre name until 2037 and shows artworks from the Louvre and other French museums until 2027. The building has a special metallic dome that looks like sunlight shining through date palm leaves in an oasis.

Controversies

The Louvre has had some debates about art and history. During Napoleon's time, many artworks came to France from other countries. After World War II, some artworks were taken from their owners. The museum tries to return these pieces when it finds the right owners.

When building a new museum called Louvre Abu Dhabi, there were worries about how workers were treated. Some people said workers were not treated fairly. Efforts have been made to improve conditions and follow the rules to protect workers.