A seasoned French museum chief takes over a Louvre in crisis

Paris: The French government moved swiftly Wednesday to stabilize the Louvre, replacing Laurence des Cars, who resigned as the museum’s president Tuesday, with Christophe Leribault, who has been running the Palace of Versailles.

Leribault, 62, will take over one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions, but one that has been in disarray since October, when a sensational heist of crown jewels raised profound questions about the Louvre’s security.

Leribault will also inherit an ambitious, but divisive, project to renovate the Louvre by moving the Mona Lisa, the museum’s most famous painting, to its own room, with an entrance separate from the iconic glass pyramid that most visitors use to enter the building.

Critics have questioned the project, both because of its huge expense — it is estimated to cost 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) — and because it would require major changes in the layout of the Louvre, a royal palace that dates back 800 years and was converted into a museum after the French Revolution.

A spokesperson for the government, Maud Bregeon, told reporters that Leribault would be “responsible for leading important and major projects for the future of the institution, including securing and modernizing the Louvre and continuing the ‘Louvre New Renaissance’ project.” His start date was not clear.

In choosing Leribault to replace des Cars, the government appeared to be betting on an experienced administrator with roots at the Louvre. He was the deputy director of the museum’s graphic arts department from 2006 to 2012 and has run three other museums, in addition to the one at Versailles.

Bregeon, who spoke after a Cabinet meeting led by President Emmanuel Macron, said Leribault would be charged with restoring “serenity” to the Louvre. The museum, the world’s most visited, has suffered a litany of woes since the heist, including strikes, a ticket scam, water damage to its collections and structural problems that forced the closing of one of its galleries.

An art historian with a doctorate from the Sorbonne, Leribault has a classic pedigree for a French museum director. He served as the chair of the Musée d’Orsay, as well as director of the Petit Palais, the fine arts museum of the city of Paris; and the Musée National Eugène Delacroix.

At the Musée d’Orsay, Leribault was credited with mounting popular exhibitions on Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch. The Munch exhibit drew 724,414 visitors from September 2022 to January 2023, a record for the museum, according to L’Echo de l’Art, a magazine for the art market.

At Versailles, one of Leribault’s current exhibits documents a visit of four Native American chiefs to King Louis XV in 1725. Half a century before the United States declared its independence, the tribal leaders allied with France as it conquered the territory that would later become Louisiana.

Versailles has many of the same challenges as the Louvre, with a vast collection, large staff, glorious but aging buildings, and central role in France’s cultural life. In addition to dealing with the Louvre’s security problems and dilapidated infrastructure, Leribault will confront restive employees who have gone on strike repeatedly in the last several months, adding to the chaos at the museum.

A longer-term challenge is the New Renaissance renovation project, which has been championed by Macron and is closely identified with des Cars. Though the government remains committed to the plans, the financing remains uncertain, as does the continuing political support, given that Macron must leave office next year.

For Macron, a refurbishment of the Louvre would be a cultural legacy on par with the grand cultural projects initiated by his predecessors, such as Georges Pompidou, who commissioned the cultural hub that later took his name, the Pompidou Center; and François Mitterrand, who initiated the construction of the Bastille Opera and the Louvre’s pyramid entrance.