France: The Musée du Louvre Launches Online Collection Database of Over 482,000 Works

The collections database: collections.louvre.fr

Designed for both researchers and curious art lovers, the collections.louvre.fr database already contains more than 482,000 entries [about 75% of the complete collection], including works from the Louvre and the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix, sculptures from the Tuileries and Carrousel gardens, and ‘MNR’ works (Musées Nationaux Récupération, or National Museums Recovery) recovered after WWII and entrusted to the Louvre until they can be returned to their legitimate owners. For the first time ever, the entire Louvre collection is available online, whether works are on display in the museum, on long-term loan in other French institutions, or in storage.

The site offers several ways to delve into the collections: simple or advanced searches, entries by curatorial department, and themed albums. An interactive map helps visitors prepare or extend their visit and allows them to explore the museum room by room. Updated regularly by museum experts, the database will continue to grow and reflect advances in research.

The new louvre.fr website
Focusing on works in the collections and the sumptuous settings they are displayed in, the site invites visitors to appreciate the former palace as they move from room to room.

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The site can be visited on tablets and computers, but is intended primarily for use on smartphones, given the widespread use of mobile devices today.

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Update (March 29, 2021)

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Also featured in the database are roughly 1,700 looted objects recovered from Germany since the end of World War II in 1945, which the Louvre will house until they can be properly restituted to the families of the original owners.

The museum is currently in the process of analyzing some 13,900 objects acquired between 1933 and 1945—the results of which may soon be included in the database, according to the Art Newspaper. Following that effort, which is expected to take five years, the institution will turn its attention to objects that entered the collection after 1945.

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