French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the Louvre will be " redesigned, restored and expanded" after the director of the world's most visited museum expressed concern about the harsh conditions for visitors and its collections.
Standing in front of the Mona Lisa, Macron said the plans included a "special place" for Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece that would be "independently accessible from the rest of the museum", with "its own access pass".
The museum in central Paris will also have a "grand new entrance" to help reduce congestion at the entrance to the glass and metal pyramid. It will be funded entirely from the institution's "own resources", AFP reports.
As part of the so-called "New Renaissance" project, France will announce an "international architectural competition" in the next few months and select the winners by the end of the year. They will transform its buildings by 2031 at the latest, the president said.
The Louvre was the residence of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s. It is regularly named the world's most visited museum. It houses masterpieces including the Mona Lisa and the Greek marble sculpture of the Venus de Milo.
But the Paris landmark has become a subject of national concern following the disclosure last week of a confidential memo written by its director, Laurence des Cars, to Culture Minister Rashida Dati. It warned of "the spread of damage in museum spaces".
Some areas "are no longer watertight and others are experiencing significant temperature fluctuations that threaten the preservation of artworks," it said.
The Louvre's popularity is also putting a "physical strain" on the historic building, it added.
Des Cars said the Louvre needs a major renovation, which is likely to be expensive and technically complex.
A total of 8.7 million people visited the Louvre's famed galleries last year. That's about twice the number it was designed for. Its director expressed concern about the quality of the user experience. | BGNES
