Louvre Museum Timeline

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa entered the Louvre's collection after the Revolution, having hung in royal apartments at Fontainebleau. Over time it rose to become arguably the most famous painting in the world, drawing millions of visitors annually.

Image source: Mona Lisa

Under Napoleon Bonaparte, the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon and expanded dramatically with artworks seized during his European campaigns, including masterpieces from Italy, Spain, Austria, and Prussia, turning it into the greatest art collection in the world.

Image source: Louvre

Following Napoleon's abdication, the Allied powers compelled France to return thousands of looted artworks to their countries of origin, significantly reducing the museum's holdings and prompting renewed acquisition efforts thereafter.

The ancient Greek statue known as the Venus de Milo was unearthed on the island of Milos. France acquired the sculpture, which entered the Louvre in 1821 and quickly became celebrated as a pinnacle of Hellenistic art and one of the museum's most iconic works.

Image source: Venus de Milo

Paul-Émile Botta's excavations at Khorsabad uncovered monumental Assyrian reliefs and colossal winged bulls. These finds established the Louvre's renowned Department of Near Eastern Antiquities, pioneering Assyriology in France.

Image source: Dur-Sharrukin

The colossal lamassu statues and palace reliefs from Dur-Sharrukin were displayed in purpose-built galleries, among the world's first museum exhibitions devoted to Assyrian civilization and a landmark in archaeological museology.

Napoleon III acquired the vast Campana Collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities from the disgraced Italian collector Giampietro Campana, dramatically expanding the Louvre's classical departments.

Image source: Giampietro Campana

President Jacques Chirac created a dedicated Department of Islamic Art, reflecting France's cultural engagement with the Muslim world. Support came from international patrons, leading to a major expansion of Islamic holdings and scholarship.

Marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death, the Louvre staged a landmark monographic exhibition uniting over 160 works. It attracted more than one million visitors, becoming one of the most successful art exhibitions ever held.

Image source: Leonardo da Vinci

Architects Hector Lefuel and Louis Visconti completed the long-planned north wing under Napoleon III, finishing the Louvre's architectural unity after centuries of piecemeal construction and creating the vast Cour Napoléon.

During the final days of the Paris Commune, Communards set fire to the Tuileries Palace adjacent to the Louvre. The Tuileries was destroyed, though the main Louvre buildings survived, and the ruins stood until their demolition in 1883.

Image source: Paris Commune

Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia walked out of the Louvre with the Mona Lisa hidden under his coat. The theft made international headlines and, paradoxically, transformed the modest Renaissance portrait into a global celebrity before its recovery in 1913.

Anticipating war, curators secretly evacuated hundreds of thousands of artworks from the Louvre, dispersing them to châteaux across France. The Mona Lisa traveled in a custom case marked with priority symbols, sheltering safely through the occupation.

Image source: Evacuation of the Louvre collection during World War II

Nazi authorities occupied the evacuated Louvre, using its galleries for storage and propaganda displays while the museum's staff quietly protected hidden collections. Curators like Rose Valland tracked Nazi art plundering throughout the occupation.

With the liberation of Paris, the Louvre returned to Free French administration. The museum gradually reinstalled its dispersed collections, reopening fully to the public in the years following the war.

Image source: Liberation of Paris

President François Mitterrand's Grand Louvre project required the French Ministry of Finance, housed in the Richelieu wing since 1871, to relocate. Renovation opened the entire north wing to the museum, expanding exhibition space enormously.

Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed a controversial glass and steel pyramid as the new main entrance to the Grand Louvre. Despite initial public outcry, the completed pyramid became a beloved modern icon harmonizing with the historic palace.

Image source: Louvre Pyramid

The glass pyramid officially opened, transforming visitor circulation by routing guests through a spacious underground lobby. It has since become one of Paris's most photographed landmarks and the symbolic face of the museum.

The renovated Richelieu wing opened to the public, housing French sculpture, decorative arts, Northern European paintings, and Napoleonic apartments. Its opening fulfilled the Grand Louvre vision of a unified museum occupying the whole palace.

A striking undulating glass roof designed by Rudy Ricciotti covered new Islamic art galleries in the Cour Visconti, showcasing over 3,000 works spanning thirteen centuries and three continents in one of Europe's largest such collections.

Designed by Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi opened on Saadiyat Island under a thirty-year agreement lending the Louvre's name and artworks. The universal museum extended the institution's global influence into the Persian Gulf region.

Image source: Louvre Abu Dhabi

Amid France's second COVID-19 lockdown, the Louvre closed to visitors for several months, suffering severe financial losses from lost ticket revenue while developing virtual tours and digital engagement to reach audiences worldwide.

Image source: COVID-19 pandemic in France