| The Louvre is the most famous art museum in | | | | |
| the world. It also has the most number of | | | | The Louvre Pyramid is the main entrance of |
| visitors per year. It is home to many great | | | | the museum. The French president Francois |
| works of art that are historically | | | | Mitterrand hired the Chinese-American |
| significant in Western culture. It was | | | | architect I.M. Pei to construct the glass |
| originally built as a royal palace for King | | | | pyramid. This was one of the first |
| Philipp II. The architecture is similar to | | | | renovations from the Grand Louvre Project. |
| the French Renaissance style of the famous | | | | |
| architect Pierre Lescot. Its use as a place | | | | The Louvre houses some of the finest art |
| to showcase art started at around the time of | | | | collections in the world. There are eight |
| French Revolution. The idea began from the | | | | departments, which are as follows: Paintings, |
| Luxembourg Palace in Paris which was then | | | | Prints and Drawings, Decorative Arts, |
| followed by the Louvre. | | | | Sculptures, Islamic Art, Egyptian |
| | | | Antiquities, Greek and Roman Antiquities and |
| The Louvre originally collected the works or | | | | Near Eastern Antiquities. |
| Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto. | | | | |
| Extensions of the site were commissioned as | | | | The museum has a collection of almost 12,000 |
| the continued expansion of the Louvre | | | | paintings. The Mona Lisa is one of the more |
| necessitated it. As France grew in power and | | | | prominent pieces found in the museum. It is a |
| stature in the 17th century, it was able to | | | | 16th century portrait painted by Leonardo da |
| acquire increasing holdings. Major works from | | | | Vinci. It is considered as one of the most |
| Dutch artists were acquired for display in | | | | famous paintings in the world. The picture is |
| the museum. Today, the collection is added by | | | | of an expressionless woman, which has been |
| gifts from citizens. | | | | the subject of countless debates and |
| | | | arguments. The painting has undergone a |
| One of the primary goals of the Louvre is to | | | | number of conservation treatments leading to |
| preserve and protect French art treasures. | | | | its' relatively excellent state. |
| This includes collections from the early part | | | | |
| of its history up to recent acquisitions to | | | | Other exhibits include sculptures, such as |
| this day. They seek to give access to as | | | | the Venus de Milo. Also known as the |
| large amount of people as possible to the | | | | Aphrodite of Milos, it is an ancient Greek |
| beauty of all these works. The museum loans | | | | statue depicting Aphrodite, the Goddess of |
| different works of art to different | | | | Love and Beauty. It is made of marble with |
| institutions all over the world too. | | | | the absence or arms from the sculpture being |
| | | | quite notable. |
| It has partnerships with other major art | | | | |
| institutions. It was recently announced that | | | | Aside from the aforementioned exhibits, |
| a Louvre museum will be constructed in Abu | | | | others include engravings, drawings, books |
| Dhabi and should be completed in 2012. It | | | | and archeology. To keep up with the times, |
| will house work from different French | | | | the Louvre continually expands and develops |
| museums, including those from the Louvre as | | | | new areas in the museum. |
| well. | | | | |