http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/louvre-abu-dhabi/rich-history-of-louvre-paris-to-enrich-abu-dhabi-museum-1.2116379
Rich history of Louvre Paris to enrich Abu Dhabi museum
French tourist attraction that dates back to 1793 has 8 sections of rare artefacts
Abu Dhabi: The Louvre Abu Dhabi is set to open its doors this month, but its namesake in Paris, the Louvre Museum, has a long history, dating back to its opening as a museum in 1793.
The arts-dedicated facility, located on the banks of the Seine river, is today the world's largest and most visited art museum. It features 38,000 items dating from prehistoric times to the present, including sculptures, drawings, paintings and archaeological finds.
The French museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally a fortress in medieval times that became a royal palace in the fourteenth century. After the French Revolution, the facility was opened as a public museum, and it has since undergone many additions and modifications into the current structure.
In 2016, more than 7.4 million people visited the Louvre, which has become an iconic landmark of France over the years. The glass and metal pyramid that has served as its main entrance from 1989 onwards has also become just a recognisable a structure as the museum itself.
From the start, the Louvre aimed to provide inspiration for contemporary art. Its initial collection featured only royal and church property, but over time, it has become home to some of the most famous artworks in the world, including Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, a renowned ancient Greek sculpture of the Roman deity of love.
The pieces are displayed in eight curatorial departments: Egyptian antiquities, Near Eastern antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, Islamic art, sculpture, decorative arts, paintings, and prints and drawings.
The Egyptian antiquities collection, comprising over 50,000 pieces from 4,000BC to 4AD, is known to be the world's largest. The Greek, Etruscan and Roman department, which exhibits pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the Neolithic age to the sixth century, features the Louvre's earliest owned pieces, while those in the Islamic art section are some of its newest properties.
In 2007, the Abu Dhabi government struck a deal with the French to develop the Louvre Abu Dhabi as part of Saadiyat Island's developing Cultural District. The deal loans the Louvre name for 30 years, and makes available artworks for 10 years from other French institutions, including the Orsay Museum and the Centre Pompidou, a contemporary art institution.
The ongoing cooperation between the governments has also continued, and last year (2016), the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Centre was inaugurated at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Centre, which pays tribute to the UAE's founding father, details the rich history of the Louvre, and also helps interpret collections at the facility to millions of visitors. It is equipped with 3D films, animations and models, including one of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and its launch was attended by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
When opened, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will focus on bridging the gap and building connections between Eastern and Western Art. The inauguration of the universal museum next week will be attended by French president Emmanuel Macron, further symbolising the long-standing ties between the UAE and France.
"The opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be a milestone in the development of the cooperation between the UAE and France, ten years after the signing of the intergovernmental agreement," French Minister of Culture Francoise Nyseen had said at the unveiling of the Louvre Abu Dhabi's opening date in September.
"[The Louvre Abu Dhabi] is one of the most ambitious cultural projects in the world. With the expertise of its cultural institutions and loans from its national collections, France is particularly proud to play a significant role in the completion and the life of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and so for several decades to come," she added.-- Sent from my Linux system.
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