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By Agathe Hakoun 28.01.2025
On January 28, 2025, Emmanuel Macron announced the future metamorphosis of the Louvre Museum.
On January 28, the President of France unveiled the “Louvre – New Renaissance” project in front of the Mona Lisa. This vast project should bring the museum into a new era.
A few weeks after the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, Emmanuel Macron is embarking on a new cultural battlefield: saving the Louvre in distress. Following the publication, on January 24, of the alarming confidential note from the president and director of the museum, Laurence des Cars, addressed to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati , concerning the dilapidated state of the former royal palace, the President of the Republic unveiled today the major project of the future Louvre, ” redesigned, restored and expanded .” From the Salle des Etats, Emmanuel Macron outlined the broad outlines of the project: Louvre – Nouvelle Renaissance”, a name, let us note, which dangerously borders on pleonasm and (curiously) echoes that of the presidential party… New rooms for the Mona Lisa , new entrance, new tariff for visitors outside the European Union, new art history program in the National Education system, a major deposit plan in French museums… Discover what the Louvre museum of tomorrow should look like.
Also read: Louvre Museum: Should the Mona Lisa be moved?
Responding to the major challenges facing the Louvre today
All the announcements took place in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, in front of an audience of directors and presidents of institutions, such as the president of the Centre des monuments nationaux Marie Lavandier or the director of the Louvre-Lens Annabelle Ténèze , politicians, such as the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo or the president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse, patrons, such as Bernard Arnault’s advisor, chairman and CEO of LVMH Jean-Paul Claverie, and personalities from the world of arts and heritage such as Pierre Rosenberg and Stéphane Bern . In a first speech, Laurence des Cars recalled the major challenges facing the Louvre today: security issues, climate change and the explosion of tourism. Indeed, Pei’s pyramid becomes a real greenhouse on very hot days. Furthermore, the entrance created under President Frédéric Mitterrand was designed to accommodate 4 million visitors and not the more than 10 million entries recorded in 2018, nor the 8.7 million entries last year.
Emmanuel Macron during his speech in the Salle des Etats at the Louvre Museum on Tuesday January 28, 2025. ©Twitter/@Elysee
The exceptional attendance at the Louvre, a curse?
In addition to the difficulties that the Louvre is facing, the historic building is “suffering” from damage that is further disrupting the smooth running of the museum. ” We are at an impasse ,” she said. ” This situation is not up to par with what the Louvre represents. The exceptional attendance at the Louvre is not a curse .” To provide solutions to the problems outlined by Laurence des Cars , Emmanuel Macron took the floor. First of all, the President of the Republic brushed aside questions about financing the project. ” Why the Louvre today at the start of the year? Isn’t it inappropriate to talk about a major cultural project when the world is going in all directions and budgetary restrictions continue ?”, he introduced. However, without going into details, Emmanuel Macron assured that this project is ” realistic and financed ” by the museum’s own resources, i.e. ticketing, patronage and resources from the Louvre Abu Dhabi brand.
For a new Renaissance of the Louvre.
A new large entrance at the Perrault colonnade
What will this “New Renaissance” consist of by 2031? Emmanuel Macron wants the Louvre to ” become the epicentre of art history for our country and beyond “. To do this, a new grand entrance will be created at the Perrault colonnade, at the eastern end of the palace, facing the Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois church. Although the idea had already been announced last May, it is now officially on the table. A national architectural competition will be launched to carry out this project. To partially finance this major project, the museum will introduce differentiated (more expensive) pricing for non-European visitors from 1 January 2026.
View of the Perrault colonnade of the Louvre museum in Paris. ©Wikimedia Commons/Jean-Pierre Dalbéra
The Mona Lisa is moving
Another big official announcement: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa will indeed be moving from the Salle des Etats. While the exhibition of the painting had already been redesigned in 2019 when the museum’s former president and director Jean-Luc Martinez reworked its presentation ahead of the retrospective event dedicated to the Renaissance master, the masterpiece will have its own rooms in spaces located under the Cour Carrée. These rooms will be accessible independently with a special ticket. Should we expect a similar presentation for the special exhibitions such as “Revoir Van Eyck “, “Revoir Watteau “, and most recently “Revoir Cimabue “, which present works that echo the painting highlighted? Thanks to this new extension, the President of the Republic announced that the museum will be able to welcome 12 million annual visitors in 2031.
Cimabue, The Mockery of Christ, circa 1285-1290, painted on wood (poplar) H. 25.8; W. 20.3 cm. Louvre Museum © GrandPalaisRmn (Louvre Museum) / Gabriel de Carvalho
Louvre masterpieces all over France
Certainly inspired by the Musée d’Orsay’s operation “100 works that tell…” and by the collaboration between the Louvre and the Petit Palais d’ Avignon , which notably allows the loan of more than 300 works from the museum, Emmanuel Macron wishes to see the 400,000 works in reserve circulate with the help of a large deposit plan to ” bring the national collections closer to all French people and democratize the Louvre “. Finally, the Head of State wishes to support this project with a whole section devoted to National Education. 450,000 students visit the Louvre each year. By 2031, the objective is to attract double that number.
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