Louvre, critical situation: moves President Macron

The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will visit the Louvre next Tuesday, following leaked reports about the museum’s precarious condition. The day before yesterday, in fact, the newspaper Le Parisien published a confidential note (or rather: that was supposed to remain confidential, but was intercepted by the Parisian newspaper) written by the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, to Culture Minister Rachida Dati last Jan. 13. The museum’s main problem is its overcrowding , which makes for a poor visitor experience, even given its outdated facilities.

Several museum buildings, Des Cars wrote, “are reaching an alarming level of obsolescence.” The director notes “an increase in damage in museum spaces, which are at times very run-down. Some are no longer waterproof, while some are undergoing worrying variations in temperature, putting the conservation of the works at risk.” In addition, Des Cars points the finger at the “Grand Louvre” model desired in the 1980s by François Mitterrand, which is now no longer suited to the numbers the museum must support: the museum, with Ieoh Ming Pei’s pyramid built between 1983 and 1988, was designed with the current structure to cope with 4 million visitors a year, but the Louvre has also come to accommodate more than 10 (while in 2024 it was 8.7 million).

The consequence is that the Louvre, for those who visit it, has become a “physical ordeal: accessing the works takes time and is not always easy. The visitor has no space to take a break. The food supply and sanitation facilities are inadequate and well below international standards. Signage needs to be totally redesigned.” Doubts also exist about the idea of keeping the Mona Lisa inside the Salle des États: according to the director, the public arrives en masse to see the work but without having the “keys to understand it,” which she says raises questions about the museum’s “public service mission.” Major renovations are therefore needed to address the needs.

Macron immediately moved to take matters into his own hands. “The Louvre is a symbol of France, it is a French pride,” reads a quote sent by Macron’sentourage to AFP news agency. “It would be a mistake to remain deaf and blind to the risks facing the museum today.” According to AFP, the president is following the dossier very closely and is preparing to make announcements on the museum’s situation, which are therefore expected on Tuesday, the Louvre’s weekly closing day.

Pictured: the Louvre. Photo: Mika Baumeister

Louvre, critical situation: moves President Macron

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