Anticipating huge waves of visitors, officials at the Louvre Museum in Paris have said that reservations will be required for entry to an exhibition this fall to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, The New York Times reports.
Louvre says Leonardo da Vinci show will be reservation-only
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 30, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Louvre — the most visited museum in the world last year, with more than 10 million spectators — said it would begin offering specific time slots through its online booking service, starting June 18. Adult tickets cost 17 euros, or about $19. Visitors who qualify for free entry will also have to reserve places.
The Louvre has imposed reservation-only restrictions before: In 2017, a similar system was used for a Johannes Vermeer exhibition that drew more than 325,000 visitors.
Jean-Luc Martinez, the president of the Louvre, said Sunday that the museum was introducing the measures for the Leonardo show to help control the lines and to keep waiting times to about half an hour. In an interview with the news outlet Agence France-Presse, he said the controls were necessary, “because we must stop judging the success of an exhibition by the number of hours waiting outdoors. What’s important to me is to improve the encounter with the works of Leonardo.”