Located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, on the right bank between the Seine and the rue de Rivoli, the museum is distinguished by the glass pyramid of its reception hall, erected in 1989 in the Napoleon
courtyard and which has now become emblematic, while the equestrian statue of Louis XIV constitutes the
starting point of the historic Parisian axis. A prefiguration of the Louvre museum was imagined in
1775-1776 by the Count of Angivillier, director general of the King’s buildings, as a place for the presentation of masterpieces from the royal collection. This museum was only inaugurated in 1793 under the name of the Central Museum of the Arts of the Republic in the Louvre Palace, a former royal residence located in the center of Paris. Today it is the largest art and antiques museum to the world. Its exhibition area is 72,735 square meters.
