Louvre to Exhibit Over 20,000 Byzantine and Orthodox Christianity Art by 2027

Sep 26 2024, 06:28 AM EDT

Musée du Louvre announces a new collaboration with Greece by adding another dedicated department to Greek culture in 2027.

The new department in question will exhibit artworks from the Byzantine era and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. ART News stated that Louvre director, Laurence des Cars, had already released the plans for the new department while in Athens. Des Cars announced that there will be over 20,000 Byzantine and Eastern Christian art that depict social and religious themes.

Louvre to Exhibit Over 20,000 Byzantine and Orthodox Christianity Art by 2027 — A visitor walks past the work of art titled "portrait of Luca Pacioli with Student" (C) by Italian painter Jacopo De' Barbari, displayed during the the press preview of the "Naples in Paris, The Louvre hosts the Museo di Capodimonte" exhibition hosted at the Louvre museum, in Paris, on June 6, 2023. The exhibition will be officially inaugurated on June 7, 2023 by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and will run until January 8, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

Greece played a major contribution in making the exhibit possible, after an informal meeting that took place in the French ambassador's house.

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Greece and France's Partnership for Louvre Museum

In the same ART News report, Louvre museum's partnership with Greece did not come out of the blue. Both countries have been part of a massive cultural exchange since 2021, hundreds of years after the historic Greek War of Independence. Part of their collaboration is to develop Louvre's Byzantine and Eastern Christian department.

With over 9 million annual visitors, the Louvre will be bringing Byzantine civilizations and Eastern Christian practices to the public.

Mary Jaharis Center already hinted earlier this year that Maximilien Durand will be managing the curation of the new department. Durand plans to showcase recovered artifacts that dates to 3rd century BCE up to 1923. This encompasses the Treaty of Lausanne, the agreement responsible for the independence of Turkey and protection for Greek Orthodox Christians in the country and other minorities in Greece.

Besides Greece, the exhibition will likely cover art from the Caucasus to Mesopotamia, Ethiopia, Russia, the Middle East and the Balkans. Icons and iconography will be part of the display as well.