The Mona Lisa will be moved to a new space at the Louvre following warnings about overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure at the Parisian museum.
Speaking in front of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece yesterday, Emmanuel Macron said the famous work will have a "special space" as part of what he called "a new renaissance" at the venue.
Leaks and buckets
Around 75% of the museum's 30,000 daily visitors go to see Leonardo da Vinci's painting, but the experience has "become an endurance test", said the BBC, with a "constant crowd being funnelled through" and having "on average 50 seconds to observe the picture and take photos".
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Earlier this month, the Louvre's director Laurence des Cars told the French government that the pyramid was "structurally unable to cope" with visitor numbers that now reach more than nine million a year.
She warned of "worrying temperature swings which endanger the conservation of works of art" and water leaks. The pyramid, which serves as the main entrance, also tends to amplify noise, making the space uncomfortable for both visitors and employees, des Cars said.
An employee told France24 that, "on a daily basis", there are "a lot of problems with water infiltration via roofs and broken pipes", and "when there is heavy rain, water run-off sometimes reaches paintings on display". To deal with leaks, said another employee, staff often "end up putting buckets in offices".
Macron's new Renaissance
Speaking at the Louvre, Macron set out details of his New Renaissance project, which includes an international competition to design a second entrance to relieve the growing pressure of visitor numbers beneath the famous glass Pyramid.
He said the overhaul would not cost the French taxpayer "a single centime", because the renovations, which will cost an estimated €700 million to €800 million (£587 million to £671 million), will come from the museum's "own resources".
But he had bad news for art lovers from the UK: he said visitors from outside the EU will have to pay more than those from within the bloc to help fund the changes.
Misguided snobbery
The decision to move the Mona Lisa is a "misguided act of snobbery", said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. High visitor numbers are a "wonderful headache for a museum to have", and moving the famous work to a "special hygienically isolated gallery" where "les idiots" won't "bother more cultured visitors" may ruin the Louvre's "ecosystem as a place where high art becomes popular culture".
An Italian politician has called for the celebrated painting to "return home" to Italy, said The Times. In an official note, Francesca Caruso, culture chief for the Lombardy region, said that "we are ready to host the Mona Lisa".
But Macron's powers have been "significantly curtailed" since he lost control of the French parliament, said the BBC, so he's been looking for a "new cause" to "assure his legacy".
