Louvre

Louvre (Musée du Louvre), Paris. The national museum and art gallery of France. The first building on the site, begun c.1190 by Philip II as a fortress and arsenal, held the royal treasures of jewels, armour, illuminated manuscripts, etc. It was enlarged and beautified by Charles V (reigned 1364–80), and his successor Charles VI used it as a residence for visiting royalty. Francis I began to demolish it in the 1520s and in 1546 he commissioned the architect Pierre Lescot to build a new palace of four wings around a square court, roughly of the same size as the old castle and on the same site. Only the west and half of the south wings were completed by Lescot, but his work forms the heart of the present vast structure, and his elegant and sophisticated classical style set the tone for the additions to the Louvre that were made by virtually every French monarch up to Napoleon III in the mid-19th century (although for much of the early 18th century it was neglected, after Louis XIV had moved the court to Versailles).

In 1699 one of the infrequent exhibitions of the Académie Royale (see academy) was held in the Louvre, and from 1737 the palace's Salon Carré became the venue for more regular exhibitions—hence the term Salon. In 1784 Louis XVI began converting the Grande Galerie into a museum to display the royal collection ( Hubert Robert was in charge), and as a result of the democratic fervour of the Revolution the Louvre was opened as the first national public gallery in 1793 (though as a public museum it was preceded by others, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Vatican Museums). It was originally called the Muséum Central des Arts, but in 1803 Napoleon renamed it the Musée Napoléon and exhibited there the works of art he had looted from conquered territories. Most were returned after his fall from power. In 1851 his nephew Napoleon III opened new rooms, housing Rubens's Marie de Médicis cycle (transferred from the Luxembourg Palace) and other works. Subsequently there have been various other additions, including a spectacular glass pyramid (1985–9) in the main courtyard serving as a new entrance to the museum; it was designed by the American architect I. M. Pei.

In addition to one of the world's greatest collections of paintings, the Louvre houses many other treasures, including large holdings of Greek and Roman antiquities. Among the famous ancient statues are the Borghese Warrior, the Venus de Milo, and the Victory of Samothrace. To relieve congestion after the Second World War a special museum for Impressionist art was formed at the Jeu de Paume in the gardens of the Tuileries. The paintings from the Jeu de Paume, together with certain other works from the Louvre, have now been moved to the Musée d'Orsay.