(Abu Dhabi) The Louvre Museum will lend one of its most famous paintings, Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci, to its only branch outside France, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, for the latter’s fifth anniversary, have announced the two establishments on Tuesday.
Posted at 11:11 a.m.
Linked to the Parisian museum by a cooperation agreement, the Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated with great fanfare in November 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a rich oil state in the Gulf which has invested heavily in culture. for its international image.
“On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Louvre Museum announces the exceptional loan of Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci, an incomparable masterpiece by the Renaissance master”, announced the two establishments in a joint statement.
The painting will be exhibited in the permanent galleries of the Abu Dhabi Museum from November 8, 2022 for a period of two years.
The work, “among the most famous of the Louvre”, has “never ceased to fascinate the millions of enthusiasts who come to admire it in the heart of the most visited museum in the world”, they welcomed.
For its anniversary, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has been hosting an exhibition on the great Impressionist artists since last week thanks to a cooperation with another big name in Paris, the Musée d’Orsay.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi celebrates its fifth anniversary in the midst of a scandal linked to a case of antiquities trafficking.
The ex-boss of the Louvre, Jean-Luc Martinez, and a former executive of the Agence France Museum (AFM), Jean-François Charnier, have been indicted in France for having facilitated the sale to the Louvre Abu Dhabi of looted Egyptian antiquities, despite doubts about their fraudulent origin.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Louvre have joined the investigation as a civil party.