The Grande Galerie first opened its doors on August 10th, 1793. Its exceptional length makes it the Louvre’s largest room and one of the most memorable galleries in Europe. Originally built between 1595 and 1610, it was supposed to serve as a transitional space between the Louvre and the Palais des Tuileries. Displaying art in such a one-of-a-kind space requires much thought, trial and error.
A History of the Container and the Contained
The Grande Galerie was “saved” by a newfound purpose during the Revolution. Its size was reduced to half of what it was during Henri IV’s reign, and the neighbouring Palais des Tuileries was later burnt down during the Paris Commune in 1871.
The Italian Renaissance works of art displayed in the Grande Galerie entered the Louvre’s collections in three main ways. Many paintings were acquired in contexts of political unrest such as military conquests and seizings.
These works of art then had to be sorted out and first display choices had to be made. The Louvre’s curators had to choose between diachronic and synchronic hangs. The diachronic hang is historical, while the synchronic one does not consider historical antecedents. It appears that the diachronic hang was chosen, in the Grande Galerie at least. The paintings are now hung according to the various different Italian schools.
For example, Guercino’s La Vierge à l’Enfant avec quatre saints (Géminien, Jean Baptiste, Georges, Pierre martyr), dit à tort Les Saints Protecteurs de la ville de Modène is exhibited right next to a Guido Reni painting. These two painters were active in the Bologna area, hence this display choice.
One may wonder: should Guido Reni be presented next to Guercino? This seems like a valid question to ask. These two painters were indeed active in Bologna. Putting them together therefore seems like a reasonable choice because visitors can take a glance at some works painted by artists from the Bologna School. However, Guercino was also painting in Rome. In such cases, classification becomes more complex and arbitrary. This issue is brought up by several critics, such as French Academician Benjamin Guérard.
The fact that paintings from the same school often present similar aesthetic characteristics could also cause fatigue and boredom for people who appreciate variety and change.
Therefore, aesthetics have been pushed aside. The visual pleasure and stimuli that occurs when drastically different paintings are exhibited next to one another cannot be achieved in the Grande Galerie today. Educating people through the hang is an important and valid concern, as museums and cultural spaces have been increasingly more accessible to all. However, the current state of the gallery appeals mostly to erudites or people who have studied art history at some point in their life. Again, the lack of visual clues and texts seem to create a gap between the average visitor and the art.
Why is this chronological and historical display favoured, then? Visitors may be familiar with this type of display and hence feel more comfortable dealing with such an organisation. This is something that people can experience in various other museums, in France and abroad. The Prado Museum in Madrid operates on the same level: its first floor presents Spanish, German, French, Flemish, Italian and English art.
Perhaps the goal of the Louvre’s display choice in the Grande Galerie is to present visitors a highly curated history of art on the walls. Visitors can enjoy several works by the Bologna School, admire and study the similarities between them. Then, they can move on to the Rome School and so on. However, this display choice can highlight some shortcomings. For example, there are no paintings by women artists on display in the Grande Galerie. How can visitors envision Italian Schools properly, when an entire part of them is missing? Therefore, the Grande Galerie cannot be considered a complete “visible history of art”. The lack of influential women artists is not a problem. For example, Lavinia Fontana and Sofonisba Anguissola are two of the major and most well-known women artists of their time. Yet, only two drawings by Fontana and none of Anguissola’s works are in the Louvre’s collections as of December 2024.
This results from the acquisition policy since the Louvre’s creation and the composition of private collections before their arrival at the museum. Many works by women artists were not bought by major collectors. Their work was sometimes overshadowed by major iconic names in art history, such as Caravage and the Carracci, resulting in a very low percentage of representation, both on the museums’ walls and in the storing units.
The gallery is so spectacular that one may wonder: is the container drawing attention away from the contained, i.e. the works of art? The container should serve the contained, not the other way around. It is true that the gallery is richly decorated by numerous columns and pilasters. This impressive space certainly does catch the eye. Yet, the decor is not overly complex, golden or shimmery in the likes of the neighbouring Galerie d’Apollon. The decor is thought-out as we have previously discussed. Yet, the colours are bright and neutral. For example, the walls are painted a light beige, almost brown colour. The darker, earth-toned columns bring some contrast to the space. The marble frieze above pilasters and columns, helps direct the eye while giving a refined atmosphere to the gallery. The use of mirrors behind some sculptures helps to create the illusion of an even larger space. They also allow the visitor to see the other sculpture placed between the columns of the other side of the gallery.
Visitor Experience in the Grande Galerie: Then and Now
Benjamin Guérard, historian and member of the Institut de France, shares his experience as a visitor in 1853, a couple of years after the Grande Galerie was reworked. The academician criticises the architecture of the gallery itself, explaining that turning one’s head left and right continuously is unpleasant. Choosing to walk perpendicularly to the walls is also not comfortable according to him.
Being able to sit in front of works of art and take time to appreciate and understand them is a challenge considering the ever-growing crowds of visitors. The sofas are quite large and thus reduce the space available for other visitors to walk through the gallery and see the paintings. When the space is crowded, visitors stopping amid the gallery will prevent others from circulating properly.
These are also issues for disabled people. For example, wheelchair users may have trouble reading labels because of their height on the wall. The fact that these users have to get so close to the wall to be able to read these labels makes the experience more difficult. They have to find a way between every other standing person who is also trying to read. Besides traffic issues, wheelchair users can also have a hard time appreciating the paintings because of the way they are hung. Indeed, what a standing or sitting person considers too high or too low is vastly different. Museums are slowly starting to consider these difficulties and are trying to be more accessible. For example, the Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris has incorporated labels in Braille for blind people and larger texts for those who can see but have trouble reading. In the same way, some simplified versions of cartels have been put in place to tailor to people who have intellectual disabilities. They have also been placed lower on the wall so wheelchair users can actually read them. This helps visitors have a pleasant experience in museums. The Louvre has not started implementing these strategies yet. The Grande Galerie would make for a particularly suitable place to start, given its large size.
Allison Caudron
Crédits photographiques : Grande Galerie, Louvre Museum, 25 September 2019, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grande_Galerie,_Louvre_Museum,_25_September_2019_01.jpg.
