ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
The Shocking Debut of the Electric Chair - DAY BEFORE:
Pepsi Owes Me a Fighter Jet - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Virginia Woolf's Diary - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
When Noel Gallagher Met Tony Blair
ON THIS DAY
Let's Open The Louvre
The world’s most famous museum opened to the public for the very first time on 10th August, 1793: exactly one year after France abolished the monarchy. The Louvre, housed in a former royal palace, was redolent with symbolism: treasures once hidden behind the walls of kings and queens were now open to the people.
The collection was already impressive: over 500 paintings, plus sculptures and decorative objects confiscated from the church and nobility. Visitors could finally see masterpieces by Raphael, Rubens, and Michelangelo – works they had only ever heard of. Over time, the Louvre’s collection grew dramatically, especially thanks to Napoleon, who “borrowed” treasures from across Europe and Egypt to fill its halls.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how the museum copes with the overwhelming number of tourists who only want to see the Mona Lisa; reveal why the museum wasn’t ‘complete’ until 1993; and recall possibly its most controversial addition – the glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Louvre – The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum, By James Gardner’ (Grove Press, 2020): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Louvre/oMfEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+louvre&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Louvre Museum opens | August 10, 1793’ (HISTORY, 2010): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/August-10/louvre-museum-opens
• ‘The Louvre: A Drone Tour of the World’s Most Famous Museum’ *(Top Virtual Tours, 2019):
ON THIS DAY
Let's Open The Louvre
The world’s most famous museum opened to the public for the very first time on 10th August, 1793: exactly one year after France abolished the monarchy. The Louvre, housed in a former royal palace, was redolent with symbolism: treasures once hidden behind the walls of kings and queens were now open to the people.
The collection was already impressive: over 500 paintings, plus sculptures and decorative objects confiscated from the church and nobility. Visitors could finally see masterpieces by Raphael, Rubens, and Michelangelo – works they had only ever heard of. Over time, the Louvre’s collection grew dramatically, especially thanks to Napoleon, who “borrowed” treasures from across Europe and Egypt to fill its halls.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how the museum copes with the overwhelming number of tourists who only want to see the Mona Lisa; reveal why the museum wasn’t ‘complete’ until 1993; and recall possibly its most controversial addition – the glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Louvre – The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum, By James Gardner’ (Grove Press, 2020): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Louvre/oMfEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+louvre&printsec=frontcover
• ‘Louvre Museum opens | August 10, 1793’ (HISTORY, 2010): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/August-10/louvre-museum-opens
• ‘The Louvre: A Drone Tour of the World’s Most Famous Museum’ *(Top Virtual Tours, 2019):
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
The Shocking Debut of the Electric Chair - DAY BEFORE:
Pepsi Owes Me a Fighter Jet - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Virginia Woolf's Diary - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
When Noel Gallagher Met Tony Blair
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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