The Louvre Museum’s star attraction could get a new room of her own in an underground extension of the museum if an ambitious €500 million Grand Louvre overhaul plan is approved by the French government.
The plan would create a new entrance at the western end of the museum, and create two large new rooms under the Cour Carréé, one of which would host temporary exhibitions, with the other dedicated to the thousands who come to view the lady with the enigmatic smile.
The plan for Mona Lisa is a response to complaints that the small painting, which is said to draw about 80% of the museum’s nine million annual visitors, can’t be seen up close, as intended by Da Vinci, and can’t be seen for very long, with crowds pushing along behind.
It’s not clear how those problems would be solved by the move, but it would allow a shorter walk from the door to the painting and relieve some crowding elsewhere in the building, as well as returning its present home, the Salle des Etats, to its original role as the home of Venetian works, including Veronese’s Marriage at Cana, which is often hidden by crowds and selfie sticks.
There’s a fly in the ointment for the Grand Louvre plan, however: the size of its budget. The proposal comes at a time when France is facing larger than expected budget deficit and debt issues, and the government is trying for €25 billion in savings in its 2025 budget. The finance minister has called on the cultural sector to take part of the hit.
