In 1546 (in the lot where there was already a fortress) was started the construction of the Louvre Palace in Paris, under the direction of French architect Pierre Lescot. The Louvre, home to French monarchs until 1682, was opened as a museum open to the public in 1793, and had the neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David as the first director. The museum has in its collection of important paintings of the Italian Renaissance as La Gioconda, Leonardo da Vinci, received valuable works acquired by the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, in addition to the contributions made by Napoleon Bonaparte and many donations of collections private. This institution is organized into seven departments, who guard and preserve the treasures on display. Among the valuable works include two famous Greek sculptures, the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory, the collections of Mesopotamian art, Greek, Islamic and Roman, and the manifestations of European art, including paintings by the masters Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, among others of great importance.
The museum was renovated and expanded in stages: in the seventeenth century works were completed in the Grand Gallery, with Napoleon III built a wing on the north, and in the last decades of the twentieth century, more galleries were added to the museum, besides building a glass pyramid, designed by leoh Ming Pei, an auditorium, shops and restaurants, among other facilities.
The Louvre Museum, considered one of the largest in the world, contains a large collection of French paintings, including works made since the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century.