Louvre Museum - Musée du Louvre

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Louvre Museum, Paris

 

The Louvre Museum, also known as the Musée du Louvre or the Grand Louvre or, simply, the Louvre,

is France’s largest national museum. It is a grand historic monument and is the most visited museum all across the globe. Located in the 1st arrondissement on the Right Bank of the Seine River, it is Paris’ central landmark.

The museum contains almost 35,000 objects and artifacts dating from prehistory to the 19th century. These items are displayed over an overwhelming 60,600 square meter area.

Louis XIV left the Louvre as a venue to display the royal collection in 1672 when he transferred his household to the Palace of Versailles. The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture then occupied the building for a hundred years. However, during the French Revolution, it was decreed by the National Assembly that the Louvre should function as a museum where masterpieces of the nation may be put on display.

On August 10, 1793, the museum opened to the public with an exhibition of over five hundred paintings. Over time, the museum’s collection expanded, and is now divided into eight departments: Near Eastern Antiquities; Egyptian Antiquities; Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Islamic Art; Prints and Drawings and Paintings.