Tourists hoping to spot the most famous painting in the world will likely have a much shorter wait: French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday that the Louvre will undergo extensive renovations, including a new room for the Mona Lisa.
The painting will “be installed in a special space, accessible independently of the rest of the museum,” Macron said, while standing in the Mona Lisa’s current gallery. The museum will also get new entrances and underground gallery spaces, among other improvements. The renovations, which will likely cost millions, will be partially financed by increasing ticket fees for non-European Union citizens beginning in 2026.
The Louvre currently displays Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece in a gallery with several other paintings, like “The Wedding Feast at Cana” by Paolo Veronese. For years, both tourists and art enthusiasts have raised objections to the painting’s placement.
An estimated 80% of Louvre guests visit the museum specifically to see the Mona Lisa, overcrowding the gallery, taking selfies, and disregarding the surrounding artworks. One critic referred to the Mona Lisa as the “Kim Kardashian of 16th-century Italian portraiture,” in a New York Times op-ed pleading for the painting to receive its own space.
The already frustrating situation reached an apparent crisis point this week when a leaked memo from the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, to Culture Minister Rachida Dati revealed “a proliferation of damage to the museum’s spaces, some of which are in a very poor condition.”
Des Cars wrote that parts of the museum are no longer watertight, posing a risk to the art’s safety. She also characterized visiting the Louvre as a “physical ordeal,” especially due to the nature of viewing the most famous painting in the world. Adding to the museum’s frustrations, the Mona Lisa often eclipses the rest of the Louvre’s collections.
“Da Vinci’s masterpiece is a work of art that appeals to the whole world,” she said. “As a result of this popularity, the public flocks to the Salle des Etats without being given the means to understand the work and the artist, thereby calling into question the museum’s public service mission.”