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The medieval Louvre was largely lost during the
modernization of the castle , caused by the
Renaissance .
Striving to succeed when the monarchy failed , the
French Revolution opened the museum in the
Louvre , first as a symbolic act on August 10 , 1793 ,
and then more regularly from October next year .
The public could see about six hundred paintings
from royal collections , as well as some art objects
and antique busts on top of the columns . The
nationalization of the property of the clergy , the
seizure of goods from the nobility who fled from
France , and the military campaigns of the French
revolutionary wars in the Netherlands and Italy
increased the number and nature of the
collections .
During the reign of Napoleon I the museum was
completely devoted to the presentation of
collections . The museum continued to expand
with new rooms . In 1820 , Venus Milo , acquired in
1820 , was acquired . The purchase of the
collections of Durand and Salt in 1824 and 1826
allowed the creation of real Egyptian collections .
The acquisition of the Révoil collection spawned a
section of decorative arts from the Middle Ages to
the Renaissance . The Louvre also restored a large
number of French sculptures from the sixteenth to
the eighteenth centuries , which had previously
been exhibited in the " Museum of Monuments of
Francisco ", which was closed in 1816 .
The second republic , proclaiming the " right to
work ", launched a major construction program ,
which included , in particular , the restoration of
the Louvre , which became the " People ' s Palace ".
Responsible for this was the architect Felix
Duban , who worked on the decor of the gallery
" Apollo ", as well as the facades of the " Little
Gallery " and " The Great Gallery ." With him , the
palace reached the level of a " historical
monument " - to use the terminology recently
adopted by the recently overthrown July
monarchy .
The fall of the Empire , the destruction of the
Tuileries and the removal of power might have
meant the triumph of the museum in the Louvre .
But in fact the beginning of the Third Republic
was difficult for the institution . Two unfortunate
incidents seem to sum up this difficult period :
the purchase in 1896 of the tiara Saitafern , which
turned out to be a fake , and the theft of the Mona
Lisa in 1911 .
After the First World War , the Louvre conducted
several major reconstruction programs .
In the interwar period , director Henry Verne
launched an ambitious and rational plan for the
restructuring of collections and the
modernization of exhibition halls . Equipped with
electricity , the Louvre could now be opened for
visitors at night .
After 1945 , Georges Salles continued to
implement Vern ' s plan . Minister of Culture
Malraux also remembered the palace character of
the Louvre and urged to clean the facade .
The Grand Louvre , the initiative of the French
President François Mitterrand , marked the
triumph of the museum , which finally occupied
almost the entire building ( with the exception of
the wing of Marsan , still dedicated to decorative
art ) after the planned departure of the Ministry of
Finance .