{"id":615116,"date":"2026-02-25T12:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/615116\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:43:13","slug":"french-government-taps-a-new-director-to-steer-louvre-museum-out-of-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/615116\/","title":{"rendered":"French government taps a new director to steer Louvre Museum out of crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 The home of the \u201cMona Lisa\u201d is getting a new boss. Art historian Christophe Leribault, a veteran museum director, is taking over at the Louvre, shouldering the challenge of getting the world\u2019s largest museum out of crisis<\/a> after the brazen heist<\/a> in October of the French crown jewels.<\/a><\/p>\n

French government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon announced the appointment on Wednesday. Leribault takes over from outgoing Louvre director Laurence des Cars<\/a>, who resigned Tuesday.<\/a><\/p>\n

The difficulties he inherits are formidable.<\/p>\n

The daylight robbery \u2014 among the highest-profile museum thefts<\/a> in living memory \u2014 exposed alarming security holes<\/a> at the Paris landmark.<\/p>\n

The former royal palace has also suffered a broad array of other problems that have presented a picture of a treasured national institution spiraling out of control.<\/p>\n

They include a burst pipe near the \u201cMona Lisa,\u201d water leaks that damaged priceless books, aging buildings<\/a>, staff walkouts over overcrowding, understaffing and ticket price hikes<\/a> for most non-European visitors.<\/p>\n

Pressure for new leadership deepened in recent weeks when authorities revealed a suspected decade-long ticket fraud<\/a> operation linked to the museum that investigators say may have cost the Louvre 10 million euros ($11.8 million).<\/p>\n

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Leribault brings a proven track record. He has been running another world-renowned French landmark and tourist attraction, the Versailles Palace, overseeing an annual budget of about 170 million euros ($200 million). The former palace for French royalty west of Paris was the venue for Olympic equestrian sports<\/a> when Paris hosted the summer games in 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n

Leribault also is a previous head of Paris\u2019 Orsay Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In announcing Leribault\u2019s appointment at the Louvre, Bregeon said: \u201cHe will be tasked with leading important projects that are crucial for the institution\u2019s future.\u201d <\/p>\n

They include security and modernization upgrades and the pursuit of a sweeping overhaul plan, branded \u201cLouvre New Renaissance,\u201d that President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> is championing. <\/p>\n

Unveiled by Macron in January 2025, the renovation, which could take up to a decade, aims to modernize a museum widely seen as overstretched and physically worn down by mass tourism.<\/p>\n

The plan includes a new entrance near the Seine River to ease pressure on I.M. Pei\u2019s pyramid, new underground spaces and a dedicated room for the \u201cMona Lisa\u201d with timed access \u2014 all intended to improve crowd flow and reduce the daily crush of visitors that has become a symbol of the Louvre\u2019s success and its dysfunction.<\/p>\n

The project is expected to cost roughly 700 million-800 million euros ($826 million-$944 million), with funding from ticket revenue, state support, donations and Louvre Abu Dhabi-related income.<\/p>\n

Bregeon described Leribault as \u201cvery solid, trusted\u201d and said he\u2019s expected to provide \u201cvision\u201d and \u201ccalm\u201d to the museum.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Culture Ministry flagged \u201chis extensive experience at the helm of major institutions\u201d and said Leribault will prioritize strengthening the security and safety of the Louvre\u2019s buildings, its collections and visitors and staff, and \u201crestoring a climate of trust.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 The home of the \u201cMona Lisa\u201d is getting a new boss. Art historian Christophe Leribault,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":615117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,2122,64,263759,4219,1033,8703,171,156,57,161594,159024,263758,3715,8156,67,132,68,2512,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-615116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-arts-and-entertainment","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-christophe-leribault","13":"tag-crime","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-emmanuel-macron","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-france","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-laurence-des-cars","20":"tag-louvre-museum","21":"tag-maud-bregeon","22":"tag-paris","23":"tag-theft","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-veterans","28":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116131332554574307","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}