![](\"https:\/\/kupitiblog.store\/576r\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/b8f40f1f4579636e9843319a2ce51985.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
By Geert De Clercq<\/p>\n
PARIS (Reuters) — The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to Leonardo da Vinci <\/span><\/span> (EPA:SGEF<\/span>)’s Mona Lisa, has requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate its ageing exhibition halls and better protect its countless works of art. <\/p>\n In a letter to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, revealed by Paris daily Le Parisien and confirmed to Reuters by the Louvre, Louvre President Laurence des Cars warned that the centuries-old building is in a dire state, and pointed at problems with water leaks and «worrying temperature swings which endanger the conservation of works of art». <\/p>\n Built in Paris in the late 12th century, the Louvre Palace for centuries was the official residence of the kings of France, until Louis XIV — weary of rebellious crowds in Paris — abandoned it for Versailles, after which it became a museum for the royal art collection in 1793. <\/p>\n Last year, the Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors, who all entered via the pyramid-shaped western entrance, designed by architect I.M. Pei, which itself has become problematic as its greenhouse effect makes the Louvre’s subterranean reception uncomfortably hot on summer days. <\/p>\n A visit to the Louvre, the museum’s head wrote, has become «a physical ordeal», with artworks being hard to find due to inadequate signage, lack of space for visitors to take a break, and insufficient food and sanitary facilities.<\/p>\n Designed to receive four million visitors a year, the Louvre saw record attendance of 10.2 million visitors in 2018, but des Cars — who was appointed in 2021 — has imposed a limit of 30,000 visitors per day in order to avoid overcrowding. <\/p>\n Des Cars’ letter did not mention financing, but French TV news channel BFM said renovation costs could amount to 500 million euros ($520 million), which would be a challenge for President Emmanuel Macron’s government which has struggled to gets its 2025 budget approved by parliament. <\/p>\n Le Parisien reported that talks are under way between Macron’s office, the culture ministry and the Louvre. A source close to Macron’s office confirmed that «the president has followed this issue with attention for several months».<\/p>\n The culture ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n After his first election in 2017, Macron gave his victory speech in front of the Louvre, while the Tuileries gardens around the former palace also played a prominent role during the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n Besides a top-to-bottom renovation, the museum is also considering building a new wing for the Mona Lisa, as well as a new entrance on the eastern end of the museum, to relieve congestion at the Pyramid entrance. ($1 = 0.9615 euros) <\/p>\n