Mona Lisa On Show Again as Louvre Museum Reopens to Visitors

The Mona Lisa is once again captivating art lovers with her enigmatic smile.

The world’s most famous portrait is on display again following the reopening of the Louvre Museum in Paris Monday (6 JULY 2020), which has been closed to the public for four months because of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Visitors hoping for an elusive glimpse of Da Vinci’s masterpiece will be required to wear face masks and reserve their tickets in advance.

About 70% of the giant museum — 45,000 square meters (484,000 square feet) of space, or the equivalent of 230 tennis courts — housing 30,000 of the Louvre’s vast trove of works was again accessible to visitors starved of art in lockdown.

The bulk of visitors to what was the world’s most-visited museum before the pandemic used to come from overseas, led by travelers from the United States.

Americans are still barred from the European Union, which is gradually reopening its borders. The Louvre is hoping the reopening will attract visitors from closer to home, including the Paris region, but is bracing for a plunge in numbers.

Before the pandemic, as many as 50,000 people per day toured the Louvre in the busiest summer months.

The museum’s president-director said Monday the museum was expecting just 7,000 visitors on reopening.

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