The Louvre on the move: the Mona Lisa soon in a dedicated room

The Musée du Louvre is about to undergo a major transformation. One of Emmanuel Macron’s key announcements on Tuesday January 28 was the move of the famous Mona Lisa to a space devoted exclusively to the work of Leonardo da Vinci.

Currently on display in the Salle des États, opposite Veronese’s Wedding at Cana, the portrait of Mona Lisa attracts millions of visitors every year, creating an almost permanent bottleneck. To remedy this, the renovation plan dubbed the “New Renaissance of the Louvre” calls for the creation of an independent space, accessible via a special ticket.

A vast renovation plan for the Louvre

With 8.7 million visitors in 2024, despite the restrictions associated with the Paris Olympics, the Louvre remains the world’s most visited museum. However, the dilapidated state of certain infrastructures is a cause for concern. In a memo sent to the French Ministry of Culture, Laurence des Cars, the museum’s president, highlighted the worrying state of the exhibition spaces, marked by technical malfunctions and temperature variations that jeopardize the conservation of the works.

To meet these challenges, the project calls for the opening of new rooms under the Cour Carrée and in the ditches in front of the museum’s façade. This redevelopment will entail the relocation of certain collections, notably those of Oriental and Egyptian Antiquities.

A new entrance and differentiated pricing

To avoid crowding the glass pyramid, a new entrance will be built on the Seine side. Scheduled for inauguration in 2031, this new entrance will be the subject of an architectural competition at the end of the year.

Another noteworthy measure is an increase in fares for visitors from outside the European Union. At the request of the Chairman, this differentiated pricing system will come into force in 2026.

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