The damage and degradation are multiplied in the Louvre Museum

Paris. The president-director of the Louvre gave the alarm about the problems that cause the vetustez of the largest museum in the world, from water infiltrations to temperature variations that threaten the conservation of the works.

In a January 13 note sent to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, revealed by the newspaper The Parisian And what AFP consulted, Laurence des Cars laments The multiplication of damages in sometimes very degraded spaces, Obsolete technical equipmentas well as disturbing temperature oscillations that endanger the state of conservation of the works treasured.

It is my duty to alert as president about these issues, and I have already done it several timeshe trusted journalists yesterday, regardless of the presentation of a new exhibition at the famous Parisian Museum.

The room that houses The Mona Lisa, Admired every day by about 20 thousand visitors, it is not affected by those damage, for example. But the same cannot be said of other parts of the building in the Sully wing, said a source close to the case.

This great space, which is articulated on four levels, houses masterpieces of French painters Jean Siméon Chardin and Antoine Watteau.

Daily problems

In November 2023, an exhibition dedicated to Claude Gillot’s drawings had to be closed and displaced after several days due to a flood.

Asked by the AFP, the Elysee indicated that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was alerted to the situation and He has spoken several times with the minister and the direction of the museum. Macron will manifest about it soonaccording to the source.

In his note, Laurence Des Cars also speaks of the glass pyramid, opened in 1988, structurally overcome In a building conceived to receive 4 million visitors a year, which in 2025 hosted about nine million, of which 80 percent were foreign tourists.

Another problem is the lack of spaces to rest and eat, as well as bathrooms, below international standards.

Christian Galani, from the culture branch of the General Confederation of Labor, commented: There is no day without the degradation of the building. The painting that leaves, rooms, reserves and work spaces on occasions, electricity breakdowns, payments to borrowers due to lack of budget… The list is long, according to the trade unionist.

There are rooms that are regularly closed due to lack of personnel, and the working conditions of the agents have been degraded, with temperatures sometimes 10 to 12 degrees in winter, and more than 30 degrees in summerGalani added, who argues that more than 200 jobs were suppressed in a decade.

Another source indicated that at least 100 million euros of investment would be needed, in particular to undertake priority restoration works.

Of that total, only 26 million were budgeted in 2024, and the rest will be staggered until 2032.

Like many public institutions, the Louvre is increasingly committed to enhancing its own resources, resorting to a growing privatization of its spaces, and patronage.

On March 4, the Parisian enclosure will celebrate the annual dinner with its patron with the purpose of raising funds, hoping that international celebrities and stars of the large haute couture houses come.