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‘It’s nice to be able to admire chess pieces as works of art, on top of being instruments of play’

Dina Belenkaya and the art of chess at the Musée du Louvre

Dina Belenkaya, born in 1993, has been playing chess since she was three years old. She became a chess grandmaster in 2016. Today, she plays chess internationally, while also balancing work as a social media content creator. To mark her two special chess matches being played at the Musée du Louvre – one against international master Julien Song, the other against 6-year-old prodigy Lucie – Belenkaya visited the collection of the Department of Decorative Arts. Here, she shares her take on four chess pieces and talks about how they fit into the way she sees her craft. 

‘Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance’ International Architecture Competition

The team led by STUDIOS Architecture Paris and Selldorf Architects wins the bid

Restoring and transforming: such is the twofold aim of the ‘Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance’ project, a major renovation initiative launched in early 2025. 

Delacroix’s Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople Restored to Its Original Glory

Following a meticulous course of conservation treatment, Eugène Delacroix’s Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople is returning to the Red Rooms, joining a number of other famous works by the artist. By restoring the piece’s colours to their original brilliance, once darkened by yellowed varnish, the conservators’ work has allowed its complex significance to shine through once more.

‘The Incredible Unknowns of the Louvre’: augmented reality gives new life to masterpieces

After a first appearance among the Egyptian antiquities in 2023, augmented reality is making a grand re-entrance: the Louvre and Snapchat are teaming up again to create an innovative interpretation tool for six of the museum’s departments, available from 18 February 2026. 

‘This painting doesn’t lose complexity the longer you look at it – it grows richer.’

The Portrait of King Charles I of England, by Anthony van Dyck, returns to the gallery walls after over a year of conservation treatment. Blaise Ducos, Curator of Flemish and Dutch Paintings, discusses this masterpiece.

Say it with a bench!

Tuileries Garden Benches Sponsorship Campaign

The Louvre is launching a long-running operation in benefit of the historical benches that have been present in the Tuileries Garden since the 19th century. This campaign aims to support an ambitious project to restore and recreate the iconic benches of the largest garden in Paris, in order to improve the visitor experience.

Conservation treatment on the Arc de triomphe du Carrousel

The conservation treatment of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, funded by the 2018 'Become a Patron!' campaign, began in November 2022 and will be completed before the summer of 2024. This restoration aims to return the monument to its former glory.

Barthélémy Toguo, The Pillar of the Missing Migrants

As part of the exhibition Things: A History of Still Life (12 October 2022–23 January 2022), curated by art historian Laurence Bertrand Dorléac, the Musée du Louvre is proud to host The Pillar of the Missing Migrants by artist Barthélémy Toguo beneath its Pyramid. Toguo’s work brings a renewed look at objects and their representation.

Three new papyri for the Louvre

In late 2019, three papyri, known as the ‘Reverseaux Papyri’ after their first owner, entered the Louvre. One of them, the ‘Reverseaux I Papyrus’, is an anthology of scribal writings of exceptional interest.