“The Louvre is a symbol of France, it is a source of French pride. It would be a mistake to remain deaf and blind to the risks weighing on the museum today,” the head of state’s entourage told AFP.
In a recent note addressed to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre museum, deplores “the multiplication of damages in sometimes very degraded spaces”, “the obsolescence of technical equipment”, as well as “worrying temperature variations endangering the state of conservation of the works”. Emmanuel Macron will go to the Louvre this Tuesday to speak about its degradation.
The “structurally outdated” glass pyramid
If the room which houses the Mona Lisa, admired every day by around 20,000 visitors, is not affected by damage, this is not the case for other parts of the building in the Sully wing (east side), a source close to the matter confirmed to AFP. This vast space, which extends over four levels, houses masterpieces by Chardin and Watteau.
In his note, Laurence des Cars also mentions the glass pyramid, inaugurated in 1988 and “structurally outdated” in a building designed to accommodate four million visitors per year but which will welcome nearly nine million in 2024 (including nearly 80 % of foreign tourists) and ten million before the Covid crisis.
-Other complaints: the lack of relaxation and catering areas, as well as sanitary facilities below international standards.
The Élysée indicated this Thursday that Emmanuel Macron had been “alert” and that he had “exchanged on several occasions with the minister and the management of the museum” about the situation of the museum.
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