Loan and long-term loan requestsLoan and long-term loan requests

With more than 2,200 works loaned every year, the Louvre does its best to answer the many loan requests it receives from museums in France and around the world. The decision to lend objects is taken by the Scientific Commission of French national museums which meets every month (except in summer) and by the internal Louvre Committee who reviews conditions at the prospective borrowing institution as well as the scientific relevance of the exhibition proposal.

Prospective borrowers should write to the relevant person at the Louvre in charge of collections to submit their exhibition proposal.
Borrowers can consult the museum’s databases at the following links: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/.

Official loan requests must be sent at least eight months before the start of the exhibition so that they can be properly reviewed and administrative deadlines met, in particular the scheduling of Loan Committee meetings.

Written requests must be sent by post to the President-Director of the Musée du Louvre:

Musée du Louvre
Madame Laurence des Cars
Présidente-Directrice
75058 Paris Cedex 01

Written requests must include the following information: full name of the borrowing institution; name(s) of person(s) responsible for the exhibition; title, dates and exact location(s) of the event; list of works requested with corresponding inventory numbers; synopsis of the exhibition; facility report (exhibition and security conditions); and contact details for all persons involved in the management of the project.

While the Louvre believes in making its collections widely available and tries to answer the many loan requests it receives favourably, it may decline to lend works for a variety of reasons:

• Object fragility. Some works cannot be moved for conservation reasons;
• Object availability. Some works may already be reserved for another exhibition project, or are a key part of the Louvre’s own displays;
• Very late submission of requests. The Louvre’s curatorial departments need sufficient time to process the large volume of loan requests they receive and properly plan for the inspection and potential move of works;
• The status of works and restrictive clauses (i.e. bequests or ‘MNR’ works) that may preclude travel outside France due to their provisional legal status.

Once a loan is agreed, the borrower is expected to comply with several obligations stated in the contract drawn up by the Louvre. These include:

• Covering all costs related to insurance, crating and packing, shipping, round-trip transport, and installing works in the exhibition venue;
• Conserving loaned works from the Louvre according to exhibition and security standards in force, and in accordance with specific conditions if applicable;
• Any request to extend a loan beyond the duration initially agreed must be made at least one month prior to the initial closing date of the exhibition. The borrower must cover all costs related to a loan extension.

Requests for images of loaned works must be sent to the Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais photo agency (www.photo.rmn.fr).