After 4 months of forced closure, the Louvre has finally reopened on July 6th. In the Coronavirus era, visiting the most popular Parisian museum will represent a new experience: there will be many new features both regarding the museum and the tourists. Firstly, wearing masks will be as undoubtedly compulsory as maintaining social distancing, moreover it will be required to previously book online tickets and to select a time slot, so to avoid overcrowded sites. Finally, a map will be provided at the entrance, indicating all the possible paths the visitors can follow, wandering around the museum will no longer be a doable option.
Related articles: Vincent Leroy's iconic work for the Louvre - How will Museums be after Covid-19 - Art in the time of corona
The Louvre reopens about 70% of its spaces, corresponding to 45,000 square meters, including some of the most sought-after areas such as those of antiquities - particularly Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts. On the contrary, sections dedicated to the Renaissance, African and American art, French and North European paintings remain closed to the public. Finally, with regards to the Gioconda: the entrance will be limited to two visitors at a time, an opportunity to admire Da Vinci’s famous painting free from crowds.
With approximately 10 million visitors in 2019, even the most visited museum in the world will have to deal with the post-Covid consequences. An uncertain future opens up for the Louvre, which has estimated a loss of around 40 million euros because of the recent closure. “Expectations for the reopening are very low”, director Jean-Luc Martinez claimed during an interview for The Times. The phenomenon of over-tourism may not reappear for years, considering that a significant percentage of visitors came from China, India, Brazil and the United States, whose borders have not reopened yet to European travels. During its long history, the museum has already experienced ups and downs, including a remarkable decline in attendance after the terrorist attacks of September 11th and those happened in Paris in 2015 and in 2016. This time, despite hoping that its smooth reopening will increase the number of local visitors, particularly coming from the Parisian region, the Louvre is ready to face a fall in numbers that will require approximately three years to recover. As a matter of fact, before the pandemic and during the busiest periods, roughly 50,000 people a day visited the Louvre, whereas Martinez recently explained that the museum was expecting only around 7,000 visitors on the reopening day.
For the moment, the museum will have to rely mainly on the French State, which is its main financier, providing an economic aid of 90 million euros a year. Let us hope for a quick recover!
