Louvre Denon Wing, which borders the Seine to the south. In 1983, French President François Mitterrand proposed, as one of his Grands Projets, the Grand Louvre plan to renovate the building and relocate the Finance Ministry, allowing displays throughout the building. Architect I. M. Pei was awarded the project and proposed a glass pyramid to stand over a new entrance in the main court, the Cour Napoléon. The pyramid and its underground lobby were inaugurated on 15 October 1988 and the "Louvre Pyramid" was completed in 1989. The second phase of the Grand Louvre plan, "La Pyramide Inversée" ("The Inverted Pyramid"),
Art in Paris museum, housing many works of art, including the "Mona Lisa" ("La Joconde") and the "Venus de Milo" statue. Known as the Great Louvre, it is the national museum and art gallery of France. Francis I ( a connoisseur of Art), initially started building the Louvre as part of the royal palace erected at a location where a 12th-century fortress of Philip Augustus existed. The palace underwent several additions over the centuries. Finally, after the court moved to Versailles in 1682, a proposal to convert the Louvre into a public museum was mooted in the 18th century, and in 1793 Musée