"Superlatives trip off the tongue when discussing Paris' Musée du Louvre. With some 18 acres of gallery space and more than eight miles of corridors it is the world's largest museum, not to mention the most visited, with annual attendance now approaching nine million. And it is unquestionably the most important cultural heritage site in France, which was the dominant cultural power in the west for a good part of the last millennium."
"Last month, when thieves broke into the splendorous Galerie d'Apollon in broad daylight and made off with nearly 90 million euros worth of France's Crown Jewels, the Louvre beat out the competition once again, receiving what can only be described as the worst publicity of any major museum in recent memory. The robbery left in its wake a museological mess for the Louvre and a full-blown crise institutionnelle for France."
The Louvre spans roughly 18 acres of galleries and more than eight miles of corridors, attracting nearly nine million visitors annually. A daylight theft of France's Crown Jewels, worth nearly €90 million, exposed security failures and triggered a museological and institutional crisis. The museum's expansion since the 1980s produced an unwieldy scale, long lines, and a shopping-mall atmosphere that fuels public dissatisfaction. Despite logistical and reputational problems, the Louvre remains France's most important cultural heritage site and retains unparalleled artistic significance through its collection, including Leonardo's Mona Lisa, acquired by Francis I after Leonardo's death in 1519.
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