The Louvre: The Many Lives of the World's Most Famous Museum

By James Gardner

Book Overview

In this first full-length history of the Louvre in English, historian James Gardner elegantly traces the evolution of the now legendary museum and the extraordinary objects it displays, from its origin as the site of a clay quarry and a vineyard in the first centuries AD, to a fortress in the Middle Ages, to a royal residence that housed the monarchs of France. In the bloody days of the French Revolution, the building was first opened to the public, and has remained so with occasional interruptions, through the Napoleonic era, the Commune, two world wars, and up to the present. The Louvre thus chronicles the broad sweep of French history through the lens of one of the world's most fascinating buildings and the growth of its unparalleled art collection. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802148786
• ISBN13: 9780802148780
• Release Date: April 2022
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 8.9"