"Mouseîon: establishment in which a collection of works of art, items of historical, aesthetic or scientific interest are preserved, exhibited, shown to advantage." (Larousse dictionary)
 The Limbourg Brothers The Month of October with the Louvre of Philippe Auguste in the background Illumination from the calendar of the manuscript Les très riches heures du duc de Berry Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly |
 Giuseppe Castiglionne The "Salon Carré", in 1865, at the Louvre Museum Canvas - H 0,69 m; W 1,03 m |
A medieval fortress, the palace of the kings of France, and a museum for the last two centuries, the architecture of the Louvre Palace bears witness to more than 800 years of history.
Established in 1793 by the French Republic, the Louvre Museum, in the company of the Ashmoleum Museum (1683), the Dresden Museum (1744) and the Vatican Museum (1784) is one of the earliest European museums.
Divided into 7 departments, the Louvre collections incorporate works dating from the birth of the great antique civilisations right up to the first half of the XIXth century, thereby confirming its encyclopedic vocation.
