Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre closes with more than 1 million visitors: it's a record

Historic record for the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre: the show, at its closing last Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in fact recorded the huge figure of 1,071,840 visitors, making Léonard de Vinci (that’s the title) the most visited exhibition in the Louvre’s history. Demolished the previous record, which belonged to the 2018 exhibition du Eugène Delacroix, which closed with 540,000 visitors. The daily average over the 104 days of the exhibition was also very high: 9,783 visitors per day. High numbers also thanks to the 46 days when night tours were held, which drew 175 thousand visitors, and the last three free evenings (an experiment the Louvre conducted for the first time in its history). As many as 386 thousand people, 36 percent of the total number of visitors, benefited from the free admission throughout the exhibition.

Thus, the fact that admission to the exhibition was allowed only by compulsory reservation, due to the exceptional nature of the event, was no obstacle for visitors. On the contrary: from the Louvre, they let it be known that the mandatory reservation allowed the public to avoid the queues. The Louvre, in a note, also acknowledges the success of devices designed to enhance the visit, such as the free short guide to the exhibition, in French and English, and the booklet dedicated to family visits. The exhibition also resulted in benefits for the association Les Amis du Lou vre (“Friends of the Louvre”), which saw memberships increase by 10.7 percent. As for the catalog, it sold out after no less than 50 thousand sales-a number that allowed it to reach 1st place in art book sales on Amazon France, and 3rd on Amazon globally in the book category. Also sold were 10 thousand copies of the comic strip Léonard2Vinci by Stéphane Levallois, published by Louvre éditions and Futuropolis.

And yet, other numbers: the En tête à tête avec la Joconde virtual reality experience, the first virtual reality experience offered by the Louvre and created with HTC Vive technology, was tried by 80 thousand visitors. The podcast series Quand la peinture raconte Léonard, created by Caroline Langlois, with the collaboration of exhibition curators Vincent Delieuvin and Louis Frank, and dedicated to Leonardo’s masterpieces in the exhibition, had 22,500 listens (the podcast is still available and can be downloaded from the Louvre website).

Now the exhibition is expected in theaters: in fact, from September 16 to 22, 2020, Une nuit au Louvre: Léonard de Vinci, a guided tour led by the two curators, will be released in French theaters. Again, reservations will be required to see it in theaters (at pathelive.com).

“This immense success,” comments Louvre director Jean-Luca Martinez, “is the success of the exhibition’s two curators, Louis Frank and Vincent Delieuvin, and shows how strong the public’s attachment to the Louvre is. It is wonderful that five hundred years after his death, an Italian Renaissance artist continues to fascinate the general public. Today, I have two reasons to be proud: to have succeeded in bringing together the largest number of Leonardo da Vinci’s works and to have been able to welcome such a large and diverse audience. It was the scientific excellence and quality of the Louvre that was the subject of a plebiscite.”

Pictured: a room of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre. Ph. Credit Antoine Mongoudin

Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre closes with more than 1 million visitors: it's a record

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