The Louvre receives thirty-five thousand visitors on a busy day. Most of them arrive between ten and noon, follow the same three-star circuit, and leave exhausted. There is a quieter […]
What the Louvre Looks Like When Everyone Has Gone
At 18:15 the last visitors are herded toward the exits. By 19:00 the lights dim floor by floor. Then the museum breathes. Guards do their first round with flashlights. Marble […]
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Home Inside the Louvre
In 1516 François I offered Leonardo a house near Amboise. The artist brought three paintings with him: the Mona Lisa, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, and Saint John […]
Views from the Rooftop That Only Employees Usually See
The public is not allowed on the Louvre’s roofs, which is why the view remains one of Paris’s best-kept secrets. From the zinc slopes above the Cour Carrée you look […]