After 2/21 Seine Floods, Louvre Relieved That Bulk Of Collection Stored Elsewhere
When the River Seine that runs through Paris overflowed this month, officials at the Louvre Museum were relieved some of their most valuable items were safely stored in northern France. The world’s largest and most visited museum, with almost 10 million visitors annually, had already transported some 100,000 at risk art pieces to the new Louvre Conservation Center in Lievin, some 190 km north. The reason? Climate change.
“The current floods show once again how necessary it is to protect our art works from flooding,” said Jean-Luc Martinez, Director of the Louvre, which owns about 620,000 artworks, only 35,000 of which are on display in the Parisian former palace. “Soon this flood danger will - once and for all - be behind us,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
With climate change, scientists say heavy rains that cause flooding are set to become more frequent, threatening riverside gems like the Louvre, Notre Dame cathedral and the Musee d’Orsay - home to the world’s greatest Impressionist paintings. The problem is not unique to Paris. Italy built flood barriers to protect Venice’s historic city centre after salty sea water damaged St Mark’s Basilica, while London’s Tate galleries sit on flood-prone sites. [
“We have a lot of museums whose collections will be affected if they are not stored properly,” said Mechtild Rossler, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, which supports landmark buildings recognised by the U.N. cultural agency. By mid-2021, Louvre officials hope 250,000 at-risk paintings, sculptures and tapestries - including the Venus de Milo - will be in their new, $120 million home, where they will be safe from floods, heatwaves and other extreme weather.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/france-climate-change-floods-art-idAFL8N2KS5JL
