This Day in History: 10 August 2020
10 August 1793
227 years ago, today, the Louvre was opened as a public museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government, after more than two centuries as a royal palace. In 1546, the Louvre palace was built by King Francis I on the site of a 12th century fortress. The King was a great art collector, and his palace was to serve as his royal residence. The work added was supervised by the architect Pierre Lescot, and even continued after Francis' death. Almost every subsequent French monarch extended the Louvre and its grounds, but the most additions were made by Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The Louvre ceased to be the main royal residence in 1682, when Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles.
During the Enlightenment, many in France began to call for a public display of royal collections. It was not until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 that major progress was made in establishing a permanent museum. The collection at the Louvre grew quickly, with the French army adding items from conquered territory and nations in the Napoleonic wars. In the 1980s and 1990s, the museum underwent major remodelling, and modern museum amenities were added. The entire Louvre was finally devoted to museum purposes in 1993 when the wing occupied by the French ministry of finance was opened to the public. Today, the Louvre's collection is one of the richest in the world, with artwork and artifacts representative of 11,000 years.
Want to find out more about the history of the Louvre Museum? Click here for more information, or here for a video explaining 800 years of the Louvre's history.
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