Macron visits the Louvre as reports of disrepair spur concern over the ‘Mona Lisa’

“For more than three years now, SUD Culture and its staff have been warning about the deteriorating state of the building, its equipment, elevators and escalators,” it said.

The museum hosted 8.7 million visitors last year as tourists flocked to the Paris Olympic Games. But in her leaked memo, des Cars warned that visiting the Louvre constituted “a physical ordeal.”

“Access to the works takes time and is not always easy,” she said. “There is no space for visitors to take a break.”

With nearly 66% of its visitors last year lining up to see Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” des Cars also said that its presentation needed to be questioned.

“Da Vinci’s masterpiece is a work of art that appeals to the whole world,” she said. “As a result of this popularity, the public flocks to the Salle des Etats without being given the means to understand the work and the artist, thereby calling into question the museum’s public service mission.”

The scrutiny around the “Mona Lisa” spurred Francesca Caruso, the regional assessor for culture in Italy’s Lombardy region, to call for the painting to be returned to Milan, home to da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

“We are ready to welcome her,” Caruso said in a post on Facebook over the weekend.

In a separate letter to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Caruso wrote, “Why not offer to host the Mona Lisa in Lombardy during the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics?”

In 2021, des Cars became the first woman to head the Louvre, a symbol of French culture around the world. Since then, she has introduced several measures to make the museum more accessible, including a cap on visitors in 2023 to reduce overcrowding, extending opening hours, and pushing for the creation of a second main entrance.

But in her memo, the director acknowledged that a complete overhaul would most likely be a long and costly ordeal at a time when the French government is facing severe budget restraints.

Last week, Dati, the culture minister, told the French television network TF1 that she was working on a project to help finance the work required for the museum.

If implemented in January 2026, as planned, the Louvre could charge non-E.U. visitors higher prices under a “differentiated tariff policy.”