A leaked memo by Louvre director Laurence des Cars has revealed the dire state of the famous Parisian museum.
Paris’ Louvre is in a “very poor condition” according to the museum’s director in a leaked memo.
Director Laurence des Cars wrote a memo detailing the various failings of France’s premier art gallery to culture minister Rachida Dati. Leaked to the Le Parisien newspaper, des Cars’ memo describes visits to the museum as a “physical ordeal”.
“Visiting the Louvre is a physical ordeal; accessing the artworks takes time and is not always easy,” des Cars writes. “Visitors have no space to take a break. The food options and restroom facilities are insufficient in volume, falling below international standards. The signage needs to be completely redesigned.”
The Louvre is the most-visited museum in the world with 8.7 million people passing through its doors in 2024, over double the amount it was designed to take.
Des Cars, who became the director of the Louvre in 2021 following stints as the director of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie, also raised concerns for the preservation of the museum’s artworks.
Damage to the museum spaces – in part by overcrowding – has created the “very poor conditions” which “are no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of artworks”.
The Louvre was first established in 1793 in the Louvre Palace, originally a mediaeval fortress first built in the 12th century. There are still remnants of the Philip II-era fortress in the museum’s basement.
It has been added to significantly over the years, most notably a glass pyramid structure designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei that was completed in 1989. In the 90s, an underground passage through the pyramid was used as the main entryway over the previous street-level entrances.
However, des Cars had issues with the pyramid too.
“On very hot days, the glass roof creates a greenhouse effect, making this space very inhospitable for the public who pass through and the agents who work there,” she wrote.
The letter, dated 13 January, recognises the strain on the country’s current culture budget but asks for needed funds to renovate the Louvre to withstand the strain it is currently under.
Des Cars capped daily visitor counts in 2022 to 30,000 from the pre-pandemic number of 45,000 in an attempt to quell overcrowding. At its peak, 10 million people visited the Louvre in 2019. She has suggested also creating a second entrance to the museum.
Last year, the Louvre upped its ticket prices by 29% to cover increased energy costs and to help subsidise free entry for European Economic Area residents under 25.
Other measures suggested by des Cars include housing the ‘Mona Lisa’ in its own room to move crowds away from it. “We can no longer accept the status quo,” she wrote to Dati.
France is in the midst of overseeing major renovation projects to the Centre Pompidou, closing it for five years. Also close by is the newly reopened Notre-Dame Cathedral. Reconstruction works from the 2019 cost nearly €700 million.
