By It served as the background for Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 presidential victory speech. On Tuesday, he returned to the Louvre to attempt some damage control after a leaked memo raised alarms about the dire state of the world’s most-visited museum.
Macron announced that the Mona Lisa will “be installed in a special space, accessible independently of the rest of the museum,” which he said will be renovated and expanded in a major overhaul.
Speaking in the room where Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece is displayed, Macron said a new entrance to the museum would be built near the River Seine and underground rooms would also be created.
While he did not disclose the cost, it is estimated that it could run into hundreds of millions of euros.
One of the ways of financing the project could be to raise prices for visitors from outside the European Union, he said. “Another way of financing the project is to increase the number of visitors to 12 million a year,” he added.
Macron visited the museum days after Le Parisien newspapers reported on a confidential memo that the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, sent to Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
According to the newspaper, the director warned of “a proliferation of damage to the museum’s spaces, some of which are in a very poor condition.”
Peeling paint on the ceiling of Gallery 718 inside the Louvre.Anthony Landahl / NBC News
Detailing substandard conditions like leaks and overcrowding, des Cars reportedly said in his memo that some spaces in the museum “are no longer watertight, while others are experiencing worrying temperature variations, endangering the conservation of the artworks.”
The Louvre and the Elysee Palace did not respond to requests for comment on or confirmation of the memo’s contents.
Over the last few days, Louvre employees have expressed similar concerns over flooding, lighting and safety that they say could put the artworks at risk.
“For our colleagues, it’s a bit of a daily ordeal to get organized and keep the visitor tour moving while ensuring that everything is safe,” one employee, Elise Muller, said Tuesday on French Radio RTL.
“Since we have different areas every day, we’re forced to close down areas due to the various problems that can arise in the building,” she added.
On Jan. 24, the Louvre’s workers’ union SUD Culture, in an angry statement, said the state of disrepair led to the unprecedented cancellation of an exhibition in 2023.
