The Louvre Museum opens a satellite museum in the suburbs of Paris

During its heyday in the 19th and 20th centuries, the industrial city of Lens in the north of France sent its wealth to Paris in the form of coal. Today the situation has changed a bit, the economy of Lance has fallen into decay and the capital of France has decided to share part of its wealth with this city in the form of a large collection of masterpieces Louvre Museum .

Among the exhibits that will now be in the first Louvre-Lens museum-satellite are Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Madonna and Child and Saint Anna (circa 1508), a portrait of Rafael Baldassare Castiglione (1514-15) and Freedom Leading the People Eugene Delacroix (1830), revered as a symbol of the French nation. In total, more than 200 exhibits were selected. The museum in Lance, for the creation of which was spent 194 million dollars, will open its doors to ordinary visitors on December 12.

Lance’s choice was not accidental. The leaders of the Louvre were attracted by the presence of a large piece of free land on the site of the former corner mine, as well as the convenient location of the city near the key stations of the high-speed railway, which makes the Louvre branch easily accessible for residents of London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne.

Mr. Dectot, director of the Lance Museum, expects that at least 700,000 people will visit the museum in its first year of operation (the Louvre has approximately 9 million visitors annually).

The museum building is located next to two huge mounds of slag, which are a surreal monument, which received UNESCO World Heritage status this year.

The museum is based on five buildings, including a gallery of approximately 18,300 square feet and a theater with 300 seats.

The first special exhibition will be dedicated to the Renaissance and will present about 250 works, including paintings by Leonardo. The permanent exhibition of the museum in Lance will include 206 works from each department of the Louvre, i.e. completely copy the structure of one of the most popular museums in the world.

Anna Sidorova