A museum that houses some of the world’s priceless works of art is in need of a major upgrade after a leaked memo spelled out the problems facing the Louvre from leaks to overcrowding. The issues are so concerning that French President Emmanuel Macron will speak out about the future of the world’s most visited museum.
Update 10:48 a.m. ET, Jan. 28: Macron on Tuesday said that the museum will undergo a multiyear overhaul which will include modernization, The Associated Press reported. He added that the “Mona Lisa” will get a new, dedicated room inside the museum.
The museum, according to Macron as he spoke steps away from the “Mona Lisa” will be “redesigned, restored, enlarged” and become “the epicenter of the history of art for our country and beyond,” in a plan dubbed the “New Renaissance,” The Guardian reported.
Not only will the famous painting have its own room, it will also have a new entrance by 2031 “at the latest” he said.
The change will “rebalance the way of visiting” the landmark museum and “reopen it, give it back to Parisians in terms of access.”
Original report: Laurence des Cars, the head of the Louvre, wrote to Culture Minister Rachida Dati this month telling Dati that there was a “proliferation of damage in museum spaces, some of which are in very poor condition,” France24 reported.
Des Cars said some areas “are no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of artworks.”
Her memo also said visitors can get frustrated about the long lines to see the museum’s most in-demand works of art, the “Mona Lisa.” It is hung in the museum’s largest room, alongside other paintings.
Des Cars said that the “Mona Lisa” display needs to be reassessed and as early as last year said it needed its own room, France24 reported.
“Elevated to iconic status, the ‘Mona Lisa’ has inspired unwavering fascination for decades. As a result of the popular excitement, the public flows through the room … without being given the key to an understanding of the artist’s work,” Des Cars wrote, according to The Times.
She also wants to limit how many people can enter the Louvre daily, setting the number at 30,000 people each day. She also wants the museum opened for longer hours. In 2024, 8.7 million people visited the Louvre, double what it was designed to have.
Des Cars said the museum was threatened by “obsolescence,” The Associated Press reported.
The last time the Louvre underwent a major remodel was in the 1980s when the glass pyramid was installed, the AP reported.
There is also a lack of food options and restrooms in the museum, des Cars said.
“We’re faced with a collective challenge,” a representative of Macron’s told the AP. “That is, how can we adapt the Louvre to expectations, welcome visitors from across the world in comfortable conditions and also be leading a commitment for artistic and cultural education?”
If the museum undergoes extensive refurb, what would happen to the “Mona Lisa?” Would it go into storage, move to another part of the museum or out of the Louvre altogether?
Officials in Milan said they want to have the “Mona Lisa” “return home” to Italy, The Times reported. Francesca Caruso, the culture chief for the Lombardy region wrote in a memo, “We are ready to host the ‘Mona Lisa’” until the French government determines the Louvre’s “relocations and restorations.”
“Leonardo represents Italian genius. Milan would be the ideal location to display the work,” Caruso told The Times. She said that Leonardo da Vinci painted in Milan for a quarter of the century, creating such works of art as “The Last Supper” adding that the “Mona Lisa” would be a centerpiece for the Winter Olympics being hosted in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The “Mona Lisa” was commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo and is believed to be his wife Lisa del Giocondo. There are several beliefs about how it ended up in France from being part of the collection of Francis I to being stolen by Napoleon during his Italian campaign.
It was stolen in 1911 and taken to Florence by a man who said he did it for patriotism.
There have also been demands to return it to Italy.
Caruso admits that the “Mona Lisa” is the property of France but said, “I want a collaboration between institutions,” not that she wants the painting to hang in Italy forever. She does, however, want it at locations such as the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where “The Last Supper” is on display and where there is state-of-the-art heating, ventilation and air conditioning, The Times reported.
The plea to return the “Mona Lisa” even on a temporary basis was “dismal” and “superficial” and part of an effort to win political favor, some claim.
“Everyone knows the ‘Mona Lisa’ will never leave France,” Massimiliano Tonelli, director of Artibune said, according to The Times. “The difficulties of an important museum are being exploited to whip up popular support.”
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