Benoit Tessier/Reuters
- The Louvre has set up a free-to-access online platform to showcase its artworks.
- It includes the French museum's entire collection of more than 480,000 pieces, including the "Mona Lisa."
- The museum is undergoing renovations while it is still closed, in line with COVID restrictions.
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You don't have to fly to Paris to see the Mona Lisa anymore: not with the Louvre's new online platform, Louvre Collections.
The museum has digitized a staggering number of artworks, with some 480,000 pieces that are now accessible for free on the newly-launched online platform.
The platform can be thought of as an online exhibit of paintings, engravings, sketches, objects, and sculptures from the entirety of the museum's galleries. It also documents images of statues from the nearby Tuileries and Carrousel gardens.
The museum's eight departments are showcased in full, and art lovers will be able to view a variety of pieces, from Renaissance sculptures to Egyptian art.
The Louvre's most famous works, including the "Mona Lisa," "Venus de Milo," and "Liberty Leading the People," are all on display in the online collection.
Those who do not know where to begin can start with the collection's themed albums, or use an interactive map to navigate the Louvre room-by-room to see where the works are displayed in the museum itself.
Researchers will also find the Louvre's collections site handy, as it comes fully equipped with a search engine. Visitors to the site can look up exactly which date the work was created, and the collection to which it belongs.
"Today, the Louvre is dusting off its treasures, even the least-known," Jean-Luc Martinez, president of the Louvre, said in a statement.
"For the first time, anyone can access the entire collection of works from a computer or smartphone for free, whether they are on display in the museum, on loan, even long-term, or in storage."
"The Louvre's stunning cultural heritage is all now just a click away!" he added. "I am sure that this digital content is going to further inspire people to come to the Louvre to discover the collections in person."
Paris's museums remain closed under the French government's current COVID lockdown measures, and the Louvre has made this a free resource to tide art buffs over.
The Louvre is now undergoing long-planned renovations, as it remains closed to visitors.