'Adventures in the Louvre' will teach you how to fall in love with the famous museum

Summary

NPR's Book of the Day: 'Adventures in the Louvre' – Detailed Summary

Introduction to the Book and Author In the April 15, 2025, episode of NPR's Book of the Day, host Andrew Limbaugh welcomes renowned journalist Elaine Sciolino to discuss her latest work, Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum. Sciolino, a former Paris bureau chief for the New York Times, blends journalism, memoir, and art history to provide an insightful guide to navigating the vast expanse of the Louvre Museum.

Louvre: Past and Present Sciolino delves into the rich history of the Louvre, painting it not merely as a repository of art but as an edifice with varied origins. Initially constructed as a fortress in the late 12th century to protect Paris, it later transformed into a royal palace before being repurposed as a museum during the French Revolution.

Notable Quote:

"The Louvre began in the Middle Ages at the end of the 12th century and it was built as a fortress to protect Paris. And then it was turned into a palace for the kings and, and basically they didn't really like it as a palace. So that eventually it was turned into a museum at the French Revolution."
— Elaine Sciolino [04:58]

Sciolino emphasizes the complexities of the Louvre's name and its uncertain etymology, reflecting the museum's multifaceted identity over centuries.

The Mona Lisa: A Double-Edged Sword A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Louvre's most famous artwork, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Sciolino explains the paradoxical relationship the museum staff has with this masterpiece. While it draws approximately 80% of first-time visitors, the museum's director of paintings harbors a critical view of its acclaim.

Notable Quotes:

"The Mona Lisa is both a blessing and a curse. About 80% of first time visitors come primarily to see the Mona Lisa."
— Elaine Sciolino [06:26]

"She's not the Virgin Mary, she's not even a saint, but she is the best known artwork in the entire world."
— Elaine Sciolino [06:26]

Moreover, Sciolino shares an anecdote about exploring other artworks deemed superior by museum curators, highlighting the subjective nature of artistic appreciation.

Visitor Expectations and Overwhelm The conversation shifts to the visitor experience at the Louvre, where Sciolino addresses the common feelings of being both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. The museum's immense size—housing 400 rooms—combined with high visitor traffic can lead to frustrations, such as long waits and crowded spaces, which may dampen the overall experience.

Notable Quote:

"You can feel underwhelmed because of your expectations. You come to the Louvre, you wait forever to get in. You finally get in, and there are just too many people."
— Elaine Sciolino [03:04]

Sciolino likens visiting the Louvre to running a half marathon for the first time, stressing the importance of preparedness and managing expectations to fully appreciate the museum's offerings.

Strategies for an Enriching Museum Experience Sciolino offers practical advice for potential Louvre visitors, emphasizing the need to approach the museum without rigid agendas. She advocates for embracing the role of a "flaneur" or wanderer, allowing oneself the freedom to explore spontaneously and discover art that resonates personally.

Notable Quote:

"You have to give yourself the freedom to get lost... I'm just gonna wander around and find something new to discover. And you will find something beautiful."
— Elaine Sciolino [08:14]

This philosophy is presented as a therapeutic escape amid contemporary societal turmoil, enabling individuals to connect deeply with art and experience moments of beauty and genius.

The Human Element: Correspondence with the Mona Lisa An intriguing aspect covered in Sciolino's book is the Mona Lisa's extensive "fan mail." As the curator responsible for 16th-century Italian paintings, Sciolino recounts meeting the individual tasked with managing the influx of letters addressed to the enigmatic portrait. These letters range from whimsical requests for personal advice to humorous misconceptions about the painting's physical state.

Notable Quote:

"Did you know that there are hundreds of letters that have been written to the Mona Lisa over the years?... some people actually think she's alive and they write to her, you know, dear Mona, could you please help me with my love life."
— Elaine Sciolino [07:26]

This anecdote underscores the cultural impact of the Mona Lisa and its status as a living symbol within the public imagination.

The Louvre Experience Beyond Art Sciolino also touches upon the practical challenges of navigating the Louvre, such as locating amenities like bathrooms and finding refreshments. These logistical elements are portrayed as part of the museum-going adventure, contributing to the overall narrative of Adventures in the Louvre.

Notable Quote:

"And where is the bathroom, by the way?"
— Elaine Sciolino [04:32]

Conclusion: Rediscovering Art Through the Louvre As the episode wraps up, Sciolino reiterates the significance of engaging with art on a personal level. By encouraging listeners to embrace the uncertainty and vastness of the Louvre, she advocates for a more meaningful and transformative museum experience.

Notable Quote:

"To be able to go into a museum and to make contact even with one work of art and feel the beauty of that work of art and the genius of the artist, it carries you away."
— Elaine Sciolino [08:14]

Final Thoughts Elaine Sciolino's Adventures in the Louvre serves as both a practical guide and a heartfelt meditation on the joys and challenges of experiencing one of the world's most renowned museums. Through her insightful discussions on NPR's Book of the Day, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for the Louvre's intricate dynamics and are inspired to approach museum visits with a sense of curiosity and openness.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbaugh]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I've been to the Louvre in Paris once, and this is a true story. By the time I got to the Mona Lisa, the alarms started going off and the entire building was evacuated, which is to say I don't think I got the full Louvre experience. Thankfully, Elaine Sciolino is on the pod today talking about her book Adventures in the Louvre, how to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum. It's a guidebook of sorts on how to tackle the Louvre. But even if you don't have any any plans to visit Paris anytime soon, her general advice works for just about any museum. For instance, she tells NPR's Mayor Louise Kelly, you have to give yourself the freedom to get lost. That's coming up.

[Sarah Levy]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Betterment, the automated investing and savings app. CEO Sarah Levy shares how Betterment utilizes tech tools powered by human advice.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Betterment is here to help customers build wealth their way and we provide powerful technology and complete human support where technology can deliver ease of use and affordability. And the people behind that technology can provide advice and guidance.

[Sarah Levy]

Learn [e-mail] investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed. This message comes from NPR sponsor Intercom. Want to make your customer service dramatically better? With fin, you can. Fin, the leading AI customer service agent, is now available on every help desk. Fin can instantly resolve up to 80% of your tickets, which makes your customers happier. And you can get off the customer service rep hiring treadmill fin by Intercom, named the number one AI agent in G2's winner. Report [e-mail] NPR A trip to the.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Louvre is the museum version of a bloodsport. You need to be ready for the fight. So writes Elaine Schilino in her new book about the Louvre. Chalino is a former Paris bureau chief for the New York Times, and the book is part journalism, part memoir, part art history. It is titled Adventures in the Louvre how to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum. Elaine Tolino is on the line from Paris. Bonjour, bienvenue.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Oh, what a great accent you've got. Gosh, it's better than I still sound like an American here.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Well, you're very, very welcome on ALL Things Considered. I have to start. You have all kinds of tips for visiting the Louvre, and I want to dive in there because you instruct us we should arrive straight from a cafe, ideally having fortified yourself with a traditional, correctly toasted croque monsieur, which sounds like great Advice for pretty much everything in life. Forget just visiting the Louvre.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Well, absolutely. You know, I have one mantra, which I tell everybody. Never go to the Louvre on an empty stomach or with a full bladder. Because everybody sort of thinks, oh, I think I'll just walk from Omar to the Louvre today, and then I'll just go to the toilet when I get in and grab something to eat. No, this doesn't happen.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Bad idea.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Be prepared before.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Okay. But really a blood sport and be ready for the fight. That sounds dramatic.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

The Louvre is a tough place. It's not supposed to be fun. It's kind of like running a half marathon for the first time. You don't know what you're going to face, and you just have to be ready for anything. This is the biggest and most visited museum in the world, and you've got to accept that it's too crowded and too confusing. 400 rooms.

[Elaine Sciolino]

400 rooms. It's overwhelming. Except one of the things that jumped out at me early in your book is you write a lot of visitors can feel underwhelmed. That feels counterintuitive.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

You can feel underwhelmed because of your expectations. You come to the Louvre, you wait forever to get in. You finally get in, and there are just too many people in the Camembert, which is where you have to maneuver to get up to one of the wings, and you're excited. You're there, perhaps for the first time, and you have to go see the Mona Lisa. You finally get to her, and she's small and you can't get close to her. And you say, I spent all that time and money for this? And that's what I mean by underwhelmed, is that she doesn't naturally carry you away, and you don't have some epiphany and great feeling about life. You think, oh, my gosh, is that all there is?

[Elaine Sciolino]

And where is the bathroom, by the way?

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

And where's the bathroom? And, yeah, it's kind of like a disappointing lover for the first time. You sort of think, oh, God, okay, is this what it's gonna be?

[Elaine Sciolino]

Well, back up and give us a little bit of the history, because the Louvre, as you detail it, wasn't built as a place to show great art to the people. It was a fortress. It was an arsenal. It was a prison. I mean, briefly, how did it come to be a museum?

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Well, first of all, no one can even give you a good answer about why it's called the Louvre. And how did it get that name? I mean, for centuries before Anything was built on that plot of land. That land was called the Louvre. But there are all sorts of theories about the word. You know, it comes from the French word perhaps for she wolf. So maybe the site was inhabited by wolves. Or there's other theories. Maybe it was named after a fortified castle or a leper colony or an ancient signal tower or a plantation of oak trees. No one can tell you the answer. So right from the beginning, you don't know what you're getting into. And as you said, it wasn't built as a museum. I mean, some people complain about the Met in New York City, the Metropolitan Museum. They say it's big and confusing and cold, but at least it was built as a place to show great art. I mean, the Louvre began in the Middle Ages at the end of the 12th century and it was built as a fortress to protect Paris. And then it was turned into a palace for the kings and, and basically they didn't really like it as a palace. So that eventually it was turned into a museum at the French Revolution Circle.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Back to the Mona Lisa because you write about how the museum staff has a love hate relationship with Mona Lisa and I want to know why.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

The Mona Lisa is both a blessing and a curse. About 80% of first time visitors come primarily to see the Mona Lisa. There's no other museum in the world that is so identified with one work of art. But who the heck can explain the cult of the Mona Lisa? She's not the Virgin Mary, she's not even a saint, but she is the best known artwork in the entire world. The director of paintings doesn't really like the Mona Lisa. And I asked him one day, I said, so are there other paintings, portraits that are more beautiful than the Mona Lisa? And he said, yeah, there really are. And I said, oh, you take me to find a few of them. And so one day we went looking for paintings that he considers even more extraordinary than the Mona Lisa.

[Elaine Sciolino]

One of my favorite stories that you tell in this book is about how you met the curator, I guess as the curator in charge of 16th century Italian painting. And his job, among his jobs is to open the Mona Lisa's fan mail.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Oh yeah. Did you know that there are hundreds of letters that have been written to the Mona Lisa over the years? And letters written about and to the Mona Lisa. I mean, some people actually think she's alive and they write to her, you know, dear Mona, could you please help me with my love life, I need your help, blah, blah, blah. I mean, other letters are written to the to the head of the museum saying she looks yellow not because she has varnish, but because she has jaundice. But they treat her in many of these letters as a live person who actually exists to circle us back to.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Where we began and the vastness of the Louvre and how easy it is to get lost and how hard it is to find a snack. The value of getting lost, of going in with no agenda whatsoever and just saying what strikes your eye on any given day.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

This is really important to tell your listeners and it's important for any museum. You have to find out what kind of a museum goer you are. And sometimes you're a first timer and that's the hardest because you're like a warrior and you have to wear good shoes and be ready to do battle. But you can also be what I call a flaneur or a wanderer. And this is the most liberating way to see the Louvre or just about any museum where you give yourself the freedom to get lost and you just say to yourself, I'm just gonna wander around and find something new to discover. And you will find something beautiful. And that is in this era that we're in, of so much turmoil, of so much uncertainty, of so much up and down, of so much being assaulted by the news, to be able to go into a museum and to make contact even with one work of art and feel the beauty of that work of art and the genius of the, of the artist, it carries you away.

[Elaine Sciolino]

Elaine Ciolino speaking with us from Paris about her new book, Adventures in the Louvre. Thank you.

[Mayor Louise Kelly]

Well, thank you.

[Andrew Limbaugh]

And just a reminder that signing up for Book of the Day plus is a great way to support NPR's book coverage and public media. And you'll get to listen to every episode sponsor free. So please go find out [e-mail] BookOfTheDay.

[Sarah Levy]

This message comes from Warby Parker. What makes a great pair of glasses at Warby Parker? It's all the invisible extras without the extra cost, like free adjustments for life. Find your [e-mail] or visit one of their hundreds of stores around the country. This message comes from Bombas. Their slippers are designed with cushioning so every step feels marshmallowy soft. Plus, for every item purchased, Bombas donates to someone in need. Go to bombas.com NPR and use code NPR for 20% off your first order. This message comes from Warby Parker. What makes a great pair of glasses at Warby Parker? It's all the invisible extras without the extra cost, like free adjustments for Life. Find your [e-mail] or visit one of their hundreds of stores around the country.