The most visited museum in the world arrives at the end of a logic. The president of the Louvre sent an alarming report to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. The Elysée has taken up the very sensitive subject.
“Too much demand”, “a worrying level of obsolescence”, “damage”, spaces “very degraded or even more watertight” and therefore, “the conservation of works in danger”… The secret report of Laurence des Cars, president of the Louvre museum, and unveiled by Le Parisien this Thursday, is explosive.
In addition to its degraded state which would require very heavy work, the report points out the fact that the Louvre no longer meets the standards of the largest museums in the world even though it still welcomed 9 million visitors in 2024. And one example is more telling than the others, that of the Salle des Estates in which the Mona Lisa, the jewel of the museum, is exhibited.
The boss of the Louvre wonders, in this report, about the “presentation of the Mona Lisa in the Salle des Estates”, the largest in the museum. Saturated with people, it is barely visible to the visitor and deserves a different exhibition, in a separate room.
Seeing the Mona Lisa would be the symbol of a visit to the Louvre which would have become, today, “a physical ordeal”.
-“Accessing the works takes time and is not always easy. The visitor does not have any space to take a break. The food supply or the toilets are insufficient, well below international standards. The signage must be completely redesigned,” the report further details.
“Inhospitable”, “a physical ordeal”…
The design of certain buildings is also highlighted by Laurence des Cars. “During very hot days, the greenhouse effect, created by the glass roof, makes this space very inhospitable for the public who passes through it and the agents who work there.”
Among the work to be undertaken, the president of the Louvre mentions the creation of a new entrance to relieve congestion in the main one located under the Pyramid.
“This situation can no longer tolerate the status quo,” concluded the president of the Louvre. And Le Parisien ensures that the file is taken up to the President of the Republic. “Discussions are taking place between the presidency, the Ministry of Culture and the Louvre, and the head of state intends to take up this matter soon,” assured a source to the newspaper.
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