Louvre, Le. Changing its purpose over the centuries, this hybrid unfinished building by the Seine has seen service as fortress, prison, palace and symbol of the monarchy, centre for artists, museum, and now French cultural symbol. Started by Philippe-Auguste in about 1190, transformed into a royal residence and library by Charles V, rebuilt by François Ier, it was enlarged by succeeding kings but rarely inhabited. In 1546 Pierre Lescot built the Cour Carrée, later enlarged to its present form, and in 1564 Catherine de Médicis commissioned Philibert de l'Orme to build the Tuileries Palace to the west. Claude Perrault's colonnaded east front dates from 1667.
Already under Henri IV the Louvre was a place where artists could work, and under Louis XIV it also housed the Academies. Plans to turn it into a museum were realized after 1792, and Napoleon's spoils enriched it. The Tuileries, joined to the Louvre in 1857, were burned down by the Commune in 1871. Since 1983 the museum has been revitalized. The architect Ieoh Ming Pei has tried to give it unity by his grandiose new entrance, covered by a pyramid of glass, steel, and aluminium. In 1988 President Mitterrand opened Le Grand Louvre, designed as the greatest art museum in the world.
[Peter Sharratt]
