How the Louvre Became a Museum

A fortress of Philip II under the courtyard, a Renaissance palace of French kings, and after 1682 a residence of artists and academics. The Revolution opened the royal collection to the public in 1793 with 537 paintings.

The Grande Galerie lit by skylights was the model. Napoleon briefly renamed it after himself; the glass pyramid arrived in 1989; today 35,000 works and 8 million visitors make it the most visited museum on earth..