The Louvre's Hidden Treasures – The Prints & Drawings Department

We like to think of the Louvre's Prints and Drawings Department one of the museum's best-kept secrets. Although it's home to one of the world's largest and most precious collections, only a fraction of these works is ever displayed due to the fragility of drawings, pastels, prints, books, and manuscripts. To protect these delicate treasures, exposure to light and air is kept to a strict minimum.

In fact, this, the 8th department of the Louvre, is organized more like a library than a museum. The fragile works are kept in storage and only taken out in the reference room, exclusively by appointment or for temporary exhibitions. Even then, a strict protocol is followed. Each artwork follows a strict preservation protocol, allowing a maximum display time of three months under carefully controlled conditions: precisely 20°C with 50% humidity. Then, it's back into storage for a three-year rest period. Let's delve into what makes this collection so unique.

About The Louvre's Prints & Drawings Collection

The Prints and Drawings Department holds three main collections: the drawings, the engraved plates, and the renowned Edmond de Rothschild Collection. Past exhibitions have focused on Italian cartoons, French drawings, pastels, miniatures, and the department's latest acquisitions. Notably, the Louvre also safeguards the Musée d'Orsay's drawing collection, ensuring the longevity of these treasured works.

The origins of this delicate collection trace back to 1671 when Louis XIV acquired 5,542 drawings, establishing a royal collection. By the end of the century, works by the court painters Charles Le Brun and Pierre Mignard were added, further enriched during the French Revolution when private collections were seized for the public good.

Founded in 1797, the engraved plates section holds copperplate engravings from the former royal cabinet and the Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In 1935, the vast Edmond de Rothschild print collection was donated to the Louvre, increasing the size of the department once again and making it one of the world's finest collections of prints and engravings.

The Edmond de Rothschild Collection

The Rothschild collection includes an amazing 60,000 prints, drawings, manuscripts and rare books gathered by Edmond, starting in his childhood. Included in the collection are masterpieces by Rembrandt, da Vinci, Durer, Raphael, rare 15th century metal artworks created by Florentine goldsmiths and works illustrating the richness of 18th century French prints. One of the highlights of the collection are the 100 drawings and engravings by Rembrandt.

Over the years, select works from the collection have been shown in special exhibits. In 2004, seventy-four select drawings and prints from the 15th to 18th centuries were shown in Madrid, and then the Louvre. In 2009, Drawings from the Louvre: The Italian Renaissance in the Rothschild Collection were presented in Florence. The exhibition displayed 100 drawings by the masters of the Italian Renaissance.

Access to the Louvre's Secret Collection

Although the delicate works are not on display, extensive files are kept on the artworks and artists, exhibition catalogues, reference books and periodicals. The digital database holds a detailed inventory of the 200,000 artworks. In order to get access to the Reference Room, the Rothschild Collection or the Study and Research Center, you must send a request for an appointment. The good news is that there are no admission fees for the appointment.

• REFERENCE ROOM ACCESS
  Open from Monday to Friday from 1 PM to 6 PM
  Admission by written request only
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• THE ROTHSCHILD COLLECTION
  By appointment only
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• Search the Louvre Prints & Drawings Department…
• Map of the Departments of the Louvre…

Links to the 8 Departments of the Louvre

• Egyptian Antiquities…	• Greek & Roman Art…
• Near Eastern Antiquities…	• Islamic Art…
• Paintings…	• Sculptures…
• Decorative Arts…	• Prints & Drawings…