The Louvre is where the Mona Lisa shines her enigmatic half-smile for visitors – and where 34,999 other fabulous attractions await your attention.
The Louvre Museum is one of the few museums in the world that can say it started with 'people power'. Literally. One of the first decrees of the new National Assembly, after the French Revolution, was that this former palace of the King be turned into a national museum, for all of France to enjoy. Much of its initial exhibition, in 1793, came from church and royal property 'liberated for the people' during the revolution. That tradition of being the natural home for France's national treasures continues to this day.
Now the Louvre has an enormous collection of some 35,000 objects, displayed over the three wings of the Palace it occupies (and spanning the globe, as well as much of human history). The Louvre also has an enormous number of visitors. That led to a major redesign in the 1980s to speed visitor access, resulting in the Louvre gaining itself a modern 'antiquity' – the glass pyramid in its foyer. Once a sore point with some, its modern-ancient clash is now seen as part of the Louvre's quintessential charm.
While that entrance pyramid only dates back to 1989, the Louvre proper has a more ancient pedigree. The first fortress was built here in the 12th century, but this has been hidden by successive layers of rebuilding and extensions. The visible wings of the museum date back to 16th and 17th-centuries. The exhibits themselves go back much further. Ancient civilizations have always fascinated the French, and they have collected superb pieces from Egypt, Sumeria, Persia and Babylon, as well as Rome and Greece.
There is also a fantastic collection of Islamic art, and wonderful examples of medieval decorative arts, including a vibrant stained glass ensemble. And paintings. Yes, the Louvre is probably best known for its outstanding collection of European masters, which number some 7,500. Though of course, it is one painting that generates most of the interest – that enigma wrapped in a smile, the Mona Lisa of Leonardo Da Vinci. This is one exhibit you will inevitably have to shuffle past in a jostling queue. And it's worth every moment of the waiting for. But the Louvre may only gift you enough time to give Mona a quick wink.
