Check Out 126 Treasures from the Louvre at Beijing's National Museum Until March 31

Not everyone has the time to fly over and queue up at the world-renowned Louvre Museum in Paris. If you are someone in this category, don't worry, this time the Louvre is coming to you right here in Beijing. To be specific, the National Museum of China presents Invention of Louvre with the Louvre, bringing 126 treasures all the way from Paris between January 13 and March 3 (except for Jan 27-Feb 2, and remember the museum is closed on Mondays). Oh la la

The exhibition consists of five seperate parts: The Royal Palace and Royal Collection, the Louvre and the Enlightenment Movement, the Napoleon Museum, from the Royal Palace to the World Museum, and Today’s Louvre.

To review the eight-hundred-year history of the Louvre Museum, and to reveal the connections between the “changes to its building clusters and the royal family, between the nobles, artists and collectors of all times, and discuss the ways for museums to seek sustainable development and enrich their collection," as the National Museum of China describes. The treasures on exhibit include paintings, sculptures, and antiquities from eight curatorial departments of the Louvre Museum and the affiliated National Museum of Eugene Delacroix.

The exhibition traces back to the end of the 12th century “when Philip II built the Louvre Tower, a military defense project on the right bank of the Seine, and reviews how it was expanded into a royal palace and attracted the most brilliant architects, sculptors and painters of all times to improve it and give it endurable and unparalleled artistic charisma. During the reign of Louis XIV, the royal center was shifted to the Palace of Versailles and from then on, the Louvre was gradually turned into a place for storing and displaying artworks. At the end of the 18th century, it officially became a museum and was open to the public with national collections based on the royal collection. This was a dramatic change brought forth by the 18th-century Enlightenment Movement,” as introduced by the National Museum of China.

Entry to the regular exhibitions at the National Museum of China is free, whereas an additional RMB 50 will get you a look at incredible works from the Louvre Museum.

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Photos: chnmuseum, china.org