Louvre museum puts its entire art collection online for the first time

The world-famous Musée du Louvre has gone digital.

The Paris, France-based museum has put its vast collection online for the public to see.

This means that people from around the world can now access the massive museum and its many iconic and obscure art pieces online.

“The Louvre is dusting off its treasures, even the least-known,” commented Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre.

“For the first time, anyone can access the entire collection of works from a computer or smartphone for free, whether they are on display in the museum, on loan, even long-term, or in storage.”

In a statement, the Louvre management estimates around 482,000 artworks have been digitized.

The enormity of the catalog made this initiative exhausting for museum curators and researchers, and an absolute treat for art lovers of all ages.

Musée du Louvre is home to popular art pieces including Venus de Milo, The Raft of the Medusa, The Dying Slave, Death of the Virgin, and Mona Lisa, among many others.

The virtual tours through the museum's website (www.louvre.fr/en) are more immersive and user-friendly, making them accessible and easy to navigate for online visitors.

Online guests can choose from four languages: French, English, Spanish, and Chinese.

The artworks when viewed are accompanied with key details such as title, artist, inventory number, dimensions, materials and techniques, date and place of production, object history, current location, and bibliography.

“These documentary entries, drawn up by museum curators and researchers, come from two museum collection databases, and are updated on a daily basis,” said the Louvre in a statement.

Opened on August 10, 1793, Musée du Louvre or the Louvre is regarded as the world's largest art museum and historic landmark in Paris.

It is the world's most visited museum and welcomes an average of 15,000 visitors per day, mostly foreign tourists from all parts of the globe.

The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw the number of museum visitors plummet to less than 3 million from a high of 9.6 million in 2019 and 10.2 million in 2018.

The museum ventured into online tours last year, covering the Egyptian Antiquities, Remains of the Louvre's Moat, and the Galerie d'Apollon sections only.

Expand your horizons even more by checking out these other virtual tours: