PARIS (AP) – The 518-year-old Mona Lisa saw many things in her life on the wall, but rarely that: almost four months without visitors to the Louvre.
As she looks through the bulletproof glass at the silent Salle des Etats, in what was once the most visited museum in the world, her celebrated smile could almost denote relief. A little further on, the white Venus de Milo marble is free for the first time from its belt of visitors taking pictures.
It is not known when the Paris museum will reopen after it was closed on October 30 in accordance with the French government’s virus containment measures. But those who were lucky enough to benefit from a rare private view of collections covering 9,000 years of human history – with plenty of room to breathe.
This is usually lacking in a museum that is hampered by its own success: before the pandemic, the team left complaining that it could not cope with overcrowding, with up to 30,000-40,000 visitors a day.
The forced closure also gave museum officials a golden opportunity to make renovations a long time ago that were simply not possible with almost 10 million visitors a year.
Unlike the first blockade, which interrupted all activities at the Louvre, the second caused some 250 museum employees to remain fully operational.
An army of curators, restorers and workers is cleaning sculptures, rearranging artifacts, checking stocks, rearranging entrances and conducting restorations, including in the Egyptian Wing and the Grande Galerie, the largest hall in the museum that is being completely renovated.
“We are taking advantage of the museum’s closure to carry out a series of major works, speed up maintenance operations and start repair work that is difficult to schedule when the museum is operating normally,” Laurent le Guedart, Architectural Heritage and Louvre Gardens The director told the AP from inside the Grande Galerie.
While le Guedart spoke, the restorers were standing on top of scaffolding making scientific soundings of the walls in preparation for a planned restoration, traveling back to the 18th century through layer after layer of paint.
Around the corner, the sound of carpenters picking up the floorboards was dimly audible. They were installing the cables for a new security system.
Before, these works could only be carried out on a Tuesday, the only day when the Louvre closed the week. Now the hammers are hitting, the machines are drilling and the brushes are scrubbing on a week-long schedule, slowed only slightly by measures of social distance.
In total, ten large-scale projects that have been suspended since last March are ongoing – and progressing rapidly.
This includes works in the Etruscan and Italian salons, and in the golden hall of Carré. A major restoration of the chapel of the ancient Egyptian tomb of Akhethotep from 2400 BC is also underway.
“When the museum reopens, everything will be perfect for its visitors – this Sleeping Beauty will have had time to wipe her nose,” said Elisabeth Antoine-Konig, curator of the Artifacts Department. “Visitors will be happy to see these brightly lit rooms again with polished floors and renovated showcases.”
Initially, only visitors with pre-booked reservations will be allowed to enter, according to virus security precautions.
Those who can’t wait can still see the Louvre’s art treasure on virtual tours online.
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Adamson reported from Leeds, England
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