Imaginary View of the Grande Galerie in the Louvre

Have you ever thought about how an art museum developed? It may have started as a library, a private cabinet of curiosities, or a gallery between two parts of a castle.

In France in the second half of the 18th century, the Louvre Palace in Paris housed the French Painting and Sculpture Academy. Every year, the Salon allowed artists to expose their masterpieces and the Royal House would order paintings from several genres. With the French Revolution in 1789, people wanted the Royal House to show their collections, hence the opening of the Museum of the Louvre in 1793. The question was then: how could an old palace become a public museum?

This view of the Louvre, painted by Hubert Robert, shows how the painter imagined a new museum in 1789. There are paintings covering walls and artists working in the gallery. He wanted to give structure to the exhibition with the frame layout, and with a new skylight bring in light from the roof. At that time, Hubert Robert depicted several imaginary views like this one to take part in the creation of the museum as temple of Art.

- Coraline Meric

P.S. The Louvre is an inspiration for many artists today. Check out this music video and see how many paintings from the famous museum you can recognize!