Le Musée du Louvre (The Louvre Museum), one the world's great art museums, houses many works of fundamental importance in Western cultures, including the Victory of Samothrace, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and Rembrandt's Christ at Emmaus, as well as major works by Jean Honore Fragonard and Antoine Watteau. Originally a royal fortress and palace built (12th century) for Philip II, le Musée du Louvre is an immense complex of buildings erected in Paris over a span of four centuries. Most of the structures that constitute the museum follow the French Renaissance style of the architect Pierre Lescot, who in 1546 was commissioned by King Francis I to erect what is now the west wing of the complex. In founding the Louvre's collection, Francis I was guided by the Italian artists Andrea del Sarto and Francesco Primaticcio, whose works, along with those of their fellow expatriate Leonardo da Vinci, formed the nucleus of the museum's original holdings. Le Musée du Louvre complex grew as the royal collections expanded. The Grande Galerie was completed under Henry IV (r. 1589-1610), and Jacques Lemercier was commissioned (1624) by Louis XIII to plan extensions to the Louvre, of which the Pavillon de l'Horloge is the most notable. The impressive east facade (begun 1667) was designed primarily by Claude Perrault, with Jean Baptiste Colbert, the royal minister, overseeing the construction.Throughout the 17th century, as France assumed a dominant role in Europe, the Louvre's holdings increased dramatically. Particularly important acquisitions during this period were major works by the great Dutch and Flemish masters. In the 18th century the annual salon exhibitions were established. The first state museum was opened in le Musée du Louvre in 1793. The central position held by the Louvre in artistic life was magnified by Napoleon I, who began its Egyptian collection. The overall museum complex was completed under Napoleon III (r. 1852-70). |
Subsequently, le Musée du Louvre expanded its collections greatly through gifts and bequests. Its departments include Oriental (ancient Mesopotamian) antiquities, Greek and Roman antiquities, and Egyptian antiquities; sculpture from the Middle Ages to modern times; furniture and objects d'art; and European paintings and drawings. In 1984 the French government launched a decade-long expansion and modernization program for le Musée du Louvre, under the direction of the U.S. architect I. M. PEI, involving a large underground addition. The evidence of this modernization is the infamous glass pyramid that has become the symbol of le Musée du Louvre. It is somewhat ironic that it became such, because the French hated it when it was first unveiled. This is not truly shocking when one considers the fact that the French wanted La Tour Eiffel torn down after The World's Fair. Hmmm, what is it they say again about snobbery???.... Of course, Paris.org has some nice pages about le Musée du Louvre |
| One of the many decorative ceilings in le Musée du Louvre |