SEE THE INTRIGUING DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOUVRE'S ARCHITECTURE THROUGH CENTURIES-SPANNING TIMELINE
The most famous art museum in the world, the Louvre Museum, welcomes around 9 million visitors annually and is home to works of art such as the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Nike of Samothrace.
The museum is a masterpiece of architecture in addition to its extensive collection. The museum released a timeline movie that includes a 3D model of the Louvre's evolution, detailing its architectural history across eight centuries of structural development.
King Philippe Auguste constructed the Louvre as a defensive fortification between the city's walls and the Seine River in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, which is where the film starts. King Charles V turned the stronghold into a royal home a century and a half later when the walls were enlarged. Francis I, whose son Henri II started the first wing of the current palace in the French Renaissance architectural style, was the first king to utilise it continuously.
Outside the city walls, on the right bank of the Seine, Catherine de Medici, the widow of Henri II, started to realise her vision for the Tuileries Palace and gardens. In an attempt to expand and beautify the location, King Henri IV built the 460-meter-long Grande Galerie along the Seine in 1595, which connected the Tuileries Palace and the Louvre. When it was finished in 1607, it was Europe's longest structure. Before relocating to Versailles, Louis XIV carried on Henri IV's vision by enlarging the Tuileries Palace and the Cour Carrée, one of the main courtyards.
The National Assembly converted the Louvre into a museum during the French Revolution. On August 10, 1793, it debuted with a display of 537 artworks. Napoleon III completed the centuries-long integration of the Louvre and Tuileries by erecting wings on the northern and southern sides of what is now the Cour Napoléon, while Napoleon I subsequently built the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel to the Tuileries Gardens and another gallery.
On May 23, 1871, the Tuileries were destroyed by fire. Twelve men, acting on orders from top military commander Jules Bergeret, set the palace on fire with turpentine, tar, and petroleum during the suppression of the Paris Commune. Fortunately, the remaining portion of the architectural wonder was intact.
The Louvre's Pyramid, a contentious 1989 addition designed by Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, now stands in the middle of the Cour Napoleon. The pyramid has surely come to symbolise the museum, despite early criticism for its modernist conflict with the traditional French Renaissance design. It gives the centuries of architectural heritage that define the Louvre a modern twist.
