Emmanuel Macron announced, this Tuesday, January 28, a vast plan to adapt the Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, to massive attendance, by creating a new entry in addition to the pyramid and by moving the Mona Lisa in a dedicated space by 2031.
With the masterpiece of Léonardo da Vinci in the background, in the room of the States of the Parisian museum, the head of state wanted to be ambitious: in all simplicity, he baptized his plan “New Renaissance of Louvre “. A double wink, at the historical period of the portrait of Monna Lisa, painted at the beginning of the 16th century, but also on his political career, he who named his Renaissance party. The project is “colossal”, he admitted. According to those around him, the cost is estimated at around 700 to 800 million euros over ten years, of which only a “very minority share” will be financed by the State.
This place is responsible for memories for the tenant of the Elysée. On the evening of the 2017 presidential election, he staged himself in front of the glass pyramid to celebrate his victory. On Tuesday, he came to respond to the alert sounded by the Museum-Director president, Laurence des Cars, who in a note of January 13 at the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati sparked problems: “Multiplication of damage in Sometimes very degraded spaces “,” obsolescence “of” technical equipment “,” disturbing variations in temperatures endangering the state of conservation of works “…
The pyramid inaugurated in 1988, majestic entrance wanted by former president François Mitterrand and designed by the architect Ieoh Ming Pei, is considered “structurally outdated” because it was planned to accommodate four million visitors per year. The museum counted nearly nine million (including 80 % foreigners) in 2024 and ten million before the COVVI-19 pandemic!
Objective 2031 for the new entry
The most spectacular component therefore concerns “the creation of a new big entry at the level of the Colonnade de Perrault”, on the eastern facade of the old castle. An architectural competition will be organized for an inauguration “by 2031 at the latest,” said Emmanuel Macron. This will imply the overhaul of the esplanade which borders it, but also the creation of new exhibition halls under the square court of the Louvre. It is there, second big upheaval, that a new “particular space” will be planned to install the Mona Lisa, which will be “accessible independently compared to the rest of the museum and endowed for this reason for a clean access title” , explained the President of the Republic.
The enthusiasm of visitors, who are 20,000 a day to admire the famous Italian genius painting, often hinders the conditions for visiting the surrounding spaces, starting with the wedding of Cana in Véronèse, hung in the same room of the States. This component will cost some 400 million euros, subject to the project selected, entirely funded on the museum’s own resources, thanks to the money brought by the Louvre Abou Dhabi and calls for patronage, especially in the United States, said the presidential entourage.
The second part, more technical, aims to adapt, without closing it, the museum in terms of safety, environmental standards, and improve its comfort and the quality of protecting works. It should extend over ten years and also cost between 300 and 400 million euros. The State will start the pump with ten million budgeted for 2025 for the first studies.
12 million visitors per year
But Emmanuel Macron faces a double pitfall. After the defeat of his camp in the legislative elections, he can no longer dictate his decisions to the government as he did for seven years. In addition, the very degraded situation of public finances makes unimaginable of massive state investments. “There is obviously no question, when we build a budget […] controlling public spending, adding a line of 500 million like that, “government spokesperson Sophie Primas, on TF1, warned on Monday.
The Head of State therefore validated the idea of Rachida Dati, which he appointed a year ago, to introduce a more expensive entry ticket for foreigners non -member from January 1 2026. This differentiated pricing could ultimately bring in an additional twenty million million per year, if the entry is set at 30 euros for foreigners and if the attendance reaches 12 million annual visitors, the objective targeted by the President.
In these times of budgetary scarcity, Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to apply this differentiated post to “other museums or monuments”. “I hear here and there that the usual piss-vinegar whine on the cost of the project”, but “it is an investment of the future that the President of the Republic offers today”, welcomed the ‘AFP The former Minister of Culture Jack Lang.