Face masks and floor markers as Louvre emerges from Covid-19 lockdown
The Louvre in Paris has reopened after shutting its doors for 16 weeks during the coronavirus crisis, but much of the world’s most visited museum remains closed and, with many non-EU visitors still banned, it is not expecting big crowds.
The Louvre’s most popular attractions, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and its huge collection of antiquities, are open to visitors who must wear face masks and reserve slots in advance. About 30% of the museum’s galleries, mainly those where physical distancing would be difficult, will remain closed.
Markers have been placed on the floor to make sure the 500 visitors who are admitted each half hour stand at least a metre apart while viewing the museum’s most popular works. There are also arrows to try to ensure visitors circulate smoothly round the former royal palace, with no doubling back allowed.
“I am very, very happy to welcome visitors back,” the museum’s director, Jean-Luc Martinez, said to a round of applause from staff as the Louvre was declared open again on Monday morning. “A museum is made above all to welcome visitors. We have devoted our lives to art, and we like to share it.”
Martinez said the museum had lost more than €40m (£36m) in sales during the shutdown, and was not optimistic for the remainder of the year. About 75% of its 9.6 million visitors last year came from abroad, led by US tourists – who, along with visitors from Russia, Brazil and many other non-EU countries, are still barred from entering Europe.
“About 7,000 people reserved today, whereas in normal times we would expect up to 50,000 a day in the summer months,” Martinez said. He added that the museum, which had not been closed for such a long period since the second world war, would aim to make up for the loss by attracting more French visitors.
Among the trickle of tourists on Monday was Zino Vandenbeaghen, who had travelled from Belgium to enjoy the unusual amount of space at both the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles. “It’s super,” he told the Associated Press. “The ideal moment to visit.”
Although about 30,000 works remain accessible, two major temporary exhibitions, Body and Soul: Sculpture in Italy from Donatello to Michealangelo and Albrecht Altdorfer: a German Renaissance Master have been postponed until October.
Paris tour guides wearing masks and holding Mona Lisa portraits protested outside the museum as it reopened, demanding more support from the government to help them ride out the coronavirus crisis and absence of tourists.
France has announced measures worth €18bn to support its tourism sector but one protester, Margot Schmitz, said the money was not reaching independent tour guides on short-term contracts such as her. “The government is turning a deaf ear,” she told Reuters.
