Louvre City

The documentary goes inside the Louvre. Not into the galleries, though, but round the back. There are storerooms, workshops and corridors. The museum went through a major renovation in the eighties. The glass pyramid in the courtyard was added then. The camera follows the work behind that change. It shows how exhibitions get mounted. Specialists go over frames and paintings. Temperature and humidity are watched in the conservation rooms. The staff are given training. They are taught how the collections are to be protected. They are also taught how to look to visitors. The film shows the museum as a city rather than a building. There is no commentary and the camera is content to watch. The eighty four minute documentary is a French production, the work of Nicolas Philibert, finished in 1990.