14. DAVID, Jacques-Louis
Consecration of the Emperor
Napoleon I and Coronation
of the Empress Josephine
1805-07
Oil on canvas, 629 x 979 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
25. BOTTICELLI, Sandro
Venus and the Three Graces
Presenting Gifts to a Young
Woman
c. 1484
Fresco transferred to
canvas, 211 x 284 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
76. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel, 86 x 93 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
77. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris
78. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris
79. WEYDEN, Rogier van der
The Annunciation (detail)
c. 1440
Oil on oak panel
Musée du Louvre, Paris
80. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin
1435
Wood, 66 x 62 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
81. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris
82. cast Paris, Musée du Louvre: Picture Gallery,
The Masterpieces
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EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris
83. EYCK, Jan van
The Virgin of Chancellor
Rolin (detail)
1435
Oil on wood
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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84. Musée du Louvre, Paris
LouvreThe Louvre is the national museum and art gallery of France, an epitome of the
nation's history and culture. The first building on the site, begun c. 1190 by Philip-
Augustus 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 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 all the future additions,
which were made by virtually every French monarch up to Napoleon III.
Under Louis XIV the royal collection increased from some 200 pictures to over 2,000. In
support of the policy for state control of the arts and taste, some of the king's pictures
were opened to public view in the Louvre from 1681 and the exhibitions of the new
Académie were held there from 1673. The court had moved into the Louvre in 1652, but it
transferred to Versailles in 1678.
85. Under Louis XVI the conversion of the Grande Galerie into a museum was begun and
as a result of the democratic fervour incidental to the Revolution the Louvre was
opened as the first national public gallery in 1793 (though as a public gallery it was
preceded by others, including the Ashmolean in Oxford and the Vatican).
Napoleon renamed the Louvre the Musée Napoléon in 1803 and exhibited there the
works of art he had gathered from conquered territories. Most were restored after his
fall from power. The Louvre was reopened by Napoleon III in 1851 with the addition of
the Rubens's Medici cycle from the Luxembourg Palace.
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 in Paris (opened 1986), which is devoted
to the art of the late 19th century, c. 1848 - c. 1905.