Read below to find out more about Paris’ renowned Louvre museum (in French, “Musée du Louvre”), one of the oldest, largest, and most famous art galleries and museums in the entire world. It is also, hands down, the single most visited museum in the world.
With more than 8 million visitors in 2006, the Louvre is without a doubt the most visited art museum in the world. And it’s no wonder. The building was previously a royal palace and today holds some of the world's most famous works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo, Madonna of the Rocks, Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.
The Louvre displays 35,000 works of art drawn from eight departments, displayed in more than 60,000 square meters of exhibition space dedicated to permanent collections. The biggest proportion of the museum's collection is 11,900 paintings (6,000 on permanent display and 5,900 in storage), representing the second largest holding of western pictorial art in the world, after the State Hermitage in Russia. Large holdings include such artists as Fragonard, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, Van Dyck, Poussin, and David. Among the well-known sculptures in the collection are the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo. In 1935, the collection of drawings and prints was greatly supplemented by the donation of Baron Edmond de Rothschild's collection, containing more than 40,000 engravings, almost 3,000 drawings and 500 illustrated books.
In addition to art, the Louvre hosts numerous other exhibits, including objets d'art, archaeology and more, all of which can be accessed from your Paris apartment rental Louvre. The permanent galleries, for example, showcase large holdings of furniture.
Located in the centre of the city of Paris, between the Rive Droite of the Seine and the rue de Rivoli in the first arrondissement, the museum is accessed by the Palais Royal — Musée du Louvre Metro station. Wake up in one of Paristay’s centrally located Paris long term rentals and walk through the hushed beauty of the Tuileries gardens until you see the Louvre rise up in the distance. Check out a video for an vacation apartment near the louvre museum.
The Louvre, like much of Paris, has a very long and fascinating history. The first royal "Castle of the Louvre" was founded in what was then the western edge of Paris by Philip Augustus in 1190, as a fortified royal palace to defend Paris on its west against Plantagenêt attacks. The first building in the existing Louvre was begun in 1535, after the destruction of the old Castle. Pierre Lescot the famed architect introduced the new design stylings of the Renaissance to Paris. During the reign of King Henry IV (1589 – 1610), a great patron of the arts, scores of craftsmen and artists were invited to live and work on the building's lower floors. As a result the Grande Galerie was added, built along the bank of the River Seine. At the time it was the longest construction of its kind in the world. Today, one of our furnished apartments paris can be yours to live in as you witness this work of art in modern times. The Denon Wing and Richelieu Wing were both completed by Louis XIII (1610 – 1643). The Denon Wing, which had been begun by Catherine Medici in 1560, has now been renovated as a part of the Grand Louvre Renovation Program.
During the French Revolution, the royal Louvre collection (added to by the collections of the French Academy and confiscations from the Church) became the "Muséum central des Arts," opening in 1793. From 1794 onwards, France's victorious revolutionary armies brought back increasing numbers of artworks from across Europe. At the time this was an attempt to create a museum that held the best sculptures worldwide. For a short period, this allowed north Europeans to see the finest of classical sculpture in one place. Significant additions of the day were masterpieces from Italy (including the Laocoon and his sons and the Apollo Belvedere, both from the pope’s collection) which arrived in Paris in July 1798. The sudden, tremendous influx of statues forced the museum's curators to reorganize displays. As a result, the building was redecorated and inaugurated in 1800, and in 1803 it was renamed the "Musée Napoléon". It continued to grow through purchases and acquisitions, becoming the great jewel you will see from some our beautiful long term apartments Paris. The collections diminished again when some wartime acquisitions had to be returned after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815.
Today, the central courtyard of the museum is occupied by the Louvre Pyramid, built in 1989, which serves as the main entrance to the museum. The Louvre Pyramid is a glass pyramid commissioned by French president François Mitterrand as the first renovation of the Grand Louvre Projec, designed by I. M. Pei and inaugurated in 1989. The Carre Gallery, where the Mona Lisa was exhibited, was also renovated.
As many of the works in the Louvre are viewed only in defined departments established some 200 years ago — for example, French Painting, or Near Eastern Art — it was decided that an annex building would be created outside of Paris, to experiment with other types of displays. The new satellite museum, funded by the local regional government, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, will have 22,000 square meters of usable space built on two levels, with semi-permanent exhibition space covering at least 5000 square meters. There will also be space set aside for rotating temporary exhibitions. The project will also feature a multi-purpose theatre.
But the Louvre itself must be seen to be believed. Its enormity, grandeur and sheer beauty (it is a work of art simply to behold from a distance) make it one of the most striking attractions to be seen in the city of Paris!
