The Louvre uses the Covid-19 lock to perform major renovations

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Composed of Saskya Vandoorne, CNNParis, France

contributors Mark EsplinAntonella Francini

As the world’s most visited museum wakes up, escalators that once carried up to 40,000 pairs of feet a day pass quietly through the empty hallway.
Blockade restrictions closed the Louvre in late October, leaving world-famous works of art such as “Venus de Milo”, “Freedom Leading People” and “Mona Lisa” without their usual crowds of admirers.

But they are not completely alone – the museum makes the most of closures by carrying out long-planned renovations.

“(The Louvre) is still alive, even if it seems asleep from the outside,” says project manager Gautier Moysset, in front of a set of 19th-century doors that once opened on the French kings’ bedroom.

Behind him, Gaëlle Dulac easily brings the doors back to life, switching between pig hair brushes and badger hair while recreating the grain of wood with layers of paint.

She is part of a team of experts and artisans who worked five days a week to redecorate the Renaissance palace. Among them is the curator Côme Fabre, who oversees the re-editing of the film “Naked youth sitting by the sea”, by French artist Hippolyte Flandrin. Under Fabre’s watchful eyes, four men balance on scaffolding and lift the painting of a young man bent into position.

“Mona Lisa” alone in the Louvre without visitors.

The curator says that the quiet period helped him to reconsider the way the Louvre displays its vast collection.

“Suddenly, a painting seems too big (or) too small, or the frame doesn’t match the ones around,” he explains. “You have to listen to what the works have to say. Sometimes they don’t like each other and you have to separate them.”

Curator Julien Cuny also uses the opportunity to reflect on the Persian collections he oversees.

“There has to be coherence in the museum. What is the work doing here? How do you talk to the other works?” he says, guiding a forklift carrying a 400-kilogram (£ 882) star through a passage covered with Roman marble sculptures.

While grateful for his time, Cuny knows that the Louvre had a major impact during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, the museum lost more than 90 million euros ($ 109 million) in revenue and saw a 72% drop in visitors.

“It’s sad because, logistically, we can do a lot,” says Cuny. “But the works of art were made to be seen.”

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