Water leaks through the glass ceilings at the Louvre in Paris put many artworks at risk last week.
On Saturday, towards the evening, visitors noticed that water was dripping on a section of the glass ceiling inside the Louvre. This happened while a powerful hailstorm hit the city at noon that day. By 5 pm, almost half an hour since the leak was first noticed, the visitors were ushered out and the museum closed. Meanwhile, museum staff used a makeshift tarp to protect the works from the water.
Despite this, there were a couple of close shaves. The water would have certainly hit Maestà (circa 1280) by Giovanni Cimabue had it not been merely 5 feet away. The painting, acquired by the museum in 1812, was unprotected due to the recent renovation. If hit by water, it would have caused irreparable damage to both the painting and its original 13th-century wooden panel. Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Madonna of the Franciscans (1285-88) indeed saw a water splash; however, it was within a protective case. However, Nicola Pisano’s sculpture Three Acolytes (1264-67) did get hit by the water directly, which damaged its label at the base.
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The unfortunate incident didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. In January, a leaked memo revealed that the Louvre suffered from numerous ‘structural damages’ – one of them being that its iconic pyramid glass ceiling was no longer watertight. French President Emmanuel Macron also said that the Louvre needed a restoration project worth $850 million.
