The Louvre

The eastern façade of the Louvre, connected to the emblematic floor plan of the museum's extraordinary labyrinthine rooms. In the background, the pyramidion and the structure of the Grand Pyramid illustrate the Louvre's traditional and contemporary character. The year "2025", the monogram "RF", and the mint marks of the French Mint and Chief Engraver Joaquin Jimenez are incorporated into the museum's floor plan.

The Louvre is one of the oldest and most significant museums in the world — its history reaches back well before its founding as a public art institution. Built as a medieval fortress under Philip II, the building was expanded into a royal residence in the 16th century under Francis I. After the French Revolution, the Louvre opened its doors to the public for the first time in 1793, making it one of Europe's first great national museums. In doing so, France established a model that treated state-owned art as common heritage — an idea that would shape the development of museums across Europe for generations.

Today, the Louvre in Paris ranks among the most visited cultural institutions in the world, holding a collection of around 380,000 objects, of which roughly 35,000 are on permanent display. It spans works from seven millennia — from ancient Near Eastern artefacts and Egyptian antiquities to 19th-century European painting. Works such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and the Venus de Milo enjoy particular renown. The building ensemble itself is part of this heritage: the glass pyramid that architect I. M. Pei erected in the courtyard in 1989 today symbolises the fusion of historic architecture with contemporary intervention. With the 2025 2-euro commemorative coin, France honours the museum on the occasion of more than 230 years as a public institution.