‘Mona Lisa’ to be moved to private room in Louvre
The Louvre’s Mona Lisa, the world’s most famous portrait, will be moved to its own room, following a series of changes the museum is undertaking.
President Emmanuel Macron announced, in a speech in front of the painting on January 28th, that the piece deserved a “special space”.
The painting is currently exhibited in the Salle des États, where 30,000 visitors are welcomed daily. According to the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, this is far more than the museum was designed to accommodate, causing “physical strain” as a result. The iconic glass pyramid of the Louvre, built during the 1980s, was designed to hold four million annual visitors, which is half the amount of people the museum welcomed last year.
The Mona Lisa’s new home will be “independently accessible compared to the rest of the museum”, with its own access ticket.
Additionally, further renovations are to be done to the museum itself, including a new entrance near the Seine and more underground rooms. A competition will be held to select the architect that will execute the project.
According to Macron, these changes will hopefully lead to more visitors, which could be in the region of 12 million per year, and further improvements to infrastructure. In a note leaked to Le Parisien newspaper, des Cars expressed distress over the lack of insulation in the current museum space, water leaks, and loud noise, which could endanger conservation and impact visitor experience.
Macron insisted that the renovations will not be paid by French taxpayers, rather by the museum’s own resources and by patrons. Part of this effort will be seen in 2026 when visitors from countries outside the EU will have to pay a higher entrance fee. The exact cost of the renovations has not been confirmed, but according to Le Figaro, we can expect it to cost around €500 million.
