The Louvre Museum is temporarily closing some employees’ offices and one public gallery because of structural fragility.
The announcement came as the world’s most visited museum, housed in a former medieval palace, is preparing for ambitious renovations announced earlier this year.
The Louvre is also still reeling from last month’s heist of crown jewels worth more than $100 million.
The museum said in a statement that a technical report submitted Friday flagged “particular fragility of certain beams holding up the floors” of the second level of the southern wing of the Louvre’s Sully wing because of “recent and unforeseen developments.” It did not elaborate.
Museum management decided to block access to the second-level offices and temporarily relocate the 65 employees working there for three days while experts assess the damage.
The museum is also closing the Campana Gallery — which is situated below the offices and exhibits antique Greek ceramics — as a precautionary measure.
Modernizing the Sully wing is among priorities of the renovation efforts announced in January.
The iconic “Mona Lisa” will get its own room inside the museum as part of the project, which is expected to take up to a decade.
Seeing the painting will require a special ticket in a move that museum management insists will make the visit simpler for those who want to see the painting and ease the experience of other visitors in the rest of the museum.
Other highlights of the “Louvre New Renaissance” renovations include a wide new entrance near the Seine River, to be opened by 2031.
French President Emmanuel Macron compared the project to Notre Dame’s recent reopening, saying “the redesigned Louvre, restored and expanded, will become the epicenter of art history for our country and beyond.”
