Louvre Photo

Two centuries after the invention of photography, the Louvre Museum looks back on the close ties between the institution and this medium, dating back to its very origins. On display from 4 November 2026 to 3 May 2027 on the Napoleon Mezzanine, the exhibition ‘Louvre Photo’ brings together over 300 photographs, ranging from daguerreotypes to digital images, taken at the Louvre or dedicated to the Louvre.

Far from being a mere retrospective, the exhibition reveals the museum as a subject, a model and a source of inspiration. Famous works, monumental galleries, anonymous visitors, passing dignitaries, workshops, building sites and spaces usually hidden from view: each photograph paints a unique portrait of the institution. From the first photograph of the Louvre taken by Louis Jacques Daguerre in 1839 to contemporary commissions by the museum, the exhibition shows how photography has helped shape the image of the world’s most famous museum.

Two hundred years of perspectives on a living museum

Through sixteen thematic sections, ‘Louvre Photo’ explores the many ways of looking at the Louvre. The photographs chronicle not only the evolution of photographic techniques but also that of the museum itself: its architectural transformations, periods of war, the advent of colour, major restoration campaigns and the rise of cultural tourism. They also reveal the close links between photography and the museum, two practices that share the same process of selection, conservation and transmission.
Marking the Bicentenary of Photography, this exhibition invites visitors to view the Louvre from a fresh perspective. Through a mix of historical documents, works of art, visual experiments and artists’ perspectives, it shows how a universal institution becomes, through images, a realm of the imagination, memory and creativity. A sensitive way to rediscover the museum through the eyes of those who have photographed it for nearly two centuries.

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