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The Louvre (English: /ˈluːv(rə)/ LOOV(-rə)),^[4] or the Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre [myze dy luvʁ] ^ⓘ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city’s 1st arrondissement (district or ward) and home to some of the most canonical works of Western art, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French kings.^[5]

The building was redesigned and extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.^[6] In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years.^[7] During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation’s masterpieces. The palace and exhibition space was expanded in the 19th century and again in the 20th.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed from 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon, after the Napoleonic looting of art in Europe, Egypt, and Syria, and the museum was renamed Musée Napoléon, but after Napoleon’s abdication, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners.^{[citation needed]} The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

The Musée du Louvre contains approximately 500,000 objects^[8] and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 60,600 m² (652,000 sq ft) dedicated to the permanent collection.^[2] The Louvre exhibits sculptures, objets d’art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. At any given point in time, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of 72,735 m² (782,910 sq ft), making it the largest museum in the world. It received 8.7 million visitors in 2024, 200,000 less than 2023, due largely to competition from the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2023 it was the most-visited museum in the world, ahead of the Vatican Museums.^[9][10]

Location and visiting

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The Louvre museum is located inside the Louvre Palace, in the center of Paris, adjacent to the Tuileries Gardens. The two nearest Métro stations are Louvre-Rivoli and Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, the latter having a direct underground access to the Carrousel du Louvre commercial mall.^[11]

Before the Grand Louvre overhaul of the late 1980s and 1990s, the Louvre had several street-level entrances, most of which are now permanently closed. Since 1993, the museum’s main entrance has been the underground space under the Louvre Pyramid, or Hall Napoléon, which can be accessed from the Pyramid itself, from the underground Carrousel du Louvre, or (for authorized visitors) from the passage Richelieu connecting to the nearby rue de Rivoli. A secondary entrance at the Porte des Lions, near the western end of the Denon Wing, was created in 1999 but is not permanently open.^[12]

The museum’s entrance conditions have varied over time. Prior to the 1850s, artists and foreign visitors had privileged access. At the time of initial opening in 1793, the French Republican calendar had imposed ten-day “weeks” (French: décades), the first six days of which were reserved for visits by artists and foreigners and the last three for visits by the general public.^[13]: 37 In the early 1800s, after the seven-day week had been reinstated, the general public had only four hours of museum access per weeks, between 2pm and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.^[14]: 8 In 1824, a new regulation allowed public access only on Sundays and holidays; the other days the museum was open only to artists and foreigners, except for closure on Mondays.^[13]: 39 That changed in 1855 when the museum became open to the public all days except Mondays.^[13]: 40 It was free until 1922, when an entrance fee was introduced except on Sundays.^[13]: 42 Since its post-World War II reopening in 1946,^[13]: 43 the Louvre has been closed on Tuesdays, and habitually open to the public the rest of the week except for some holidays.

The use of cameras and video recorders is permitted inside, but flash photography is forbidden.^[15]

Beginning in 2012, Nintendo 3DS portable video game systems were used as the official museum audio guides. The following year, the museum contracted Nintendo to create a 3DS-based audiovisual visitor guide.^[16] Entitled Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, it contains over 30 hours of audio and over 1,000 photographs of artwork and the museum itself, including 3D views,^[17] and also provides navigation thanks to differential GPS transmitters installed within the museum.^[18]

The upgraded 2013 Louvre guide was also announced in a special Nintendo Direct featuring Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrating it at the museum,^[19] and 3DS XLs pre-loaded with the guide are available to rent at the museum.^[20] As of August 2023, there are virtual tours through rooms and galleries accessible online.

History

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Before the museum

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Main article: Louvre Palace

The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, was begun by King Philip II in the late 12th century to protect the city from the attack from the West, as the Kingdom of England still held Normandy at the time. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre are still visible in the crypt.^[21]: 32 Whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, and it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower.^[22]

The origins of the name “Louvre” are somewhat disputed. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with a wolf hunting den (via Latin: lupus, lower Empire: lupara).^[22][23] In the 7th century, Burgundofara (also known as Saint Fare), abbess in Meaux, is said to have given part of her “Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris” to a monastery,^[24] even though it is doubtful that this land corresponded exactly to the present site of the Louvre.

The Louvre Palace has been subject to numerous renovations since its construction. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building from its military role into a residence. In 1546, Francis I started its rebuilding in French Renaissance style.^[25] After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, construction works slowed to a halt. The royal move away from Paris resulted in the Louvre being used as a residence for artists, under Royal patronage.^{[25][21]: 42 [26]} For example, four generations of craftsmen-artists from the Boulle family were granted Royal patronage and resided in the Louvre.^[27][28][29]

Meanwhile, the collections of the Louvre originated in the acquisitions of paintings and other artworks by the monarchs of the House of France. At the Palace of Fontainebleau, Francis collected art that would later be part of the Louvre’s art collections, including Leonardo da Vinci‘s Mona Lisa.^[30]

The Cabinet du Roi consisted of seven rooms west of the Galerie d’Apollon on the upper floor of the remodeled Petite Galerie. Many of the king’s paintings were placed in these rooms in 1673, when it became an art gallery, accessible to certain art lovers as a kind of museum. In 1681, after the court moved to Versailles, 26 of the paintings were transferred there, somewhat diminishing the collection, but it is mentioned in Paris guide books from 1684 on, and was shown to ambassadors from Siam in 1686.^[31]

By the mid-18th century there were an increasing number of proposals to create a public gallery in the Louvre. Art critic Étienne La Font de Saint-Yenne in 1747 published a call for a display of the royal collection. On 14 October 1750, Louis XV decided on a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. A hall was opened by Le Normant de Tournehem and the Marquis de Marigny for public viewing of the “king’s paintings” (Tableaux du Roy) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Luxembourg gallery included Andrea del Sarto‘s Charity and works by Raphael; Titian; Veronese; Rembrandt; Poussin or Van Dyck. It closed in 1780 as a result of the royal gift of the Luxembourg palace to the Count of Provence (the future king, Louis XVIII) by the king in 1778.^[32] Under Louis XVI, the idea of a royal museum in the Louvre came closer to fruition.^[33] The comte d’Angiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed to convert the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which at that time contained the plans-reliefs or 3D models of key fortified sites in and around France – into the “French Museum”. Many design proposals were offered for the Louvre’s renovation into a museum, without a final decision being made on them. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution.^[32]

Revolutionary opening

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The Louvre finally became a public museum during the French Revolution. In May 1791, the National Constituent Assembly declared that the Louvre would be “a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts”.^[32] On 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property. Because of fear of vandalism or theft, on 19 August, the National Assembly pronounced the museum’s preparation urgent. In October, a committee to “preserve the national memory” began assembling the collection for display.^[34]

The museum opened on 10 August 1793, the first anniversary of the monarchy’s demise, as Muséum central des Arts de la République. The public was given free accessibility on three days per week, which was “perceived as a major accomplishment and was generally appreciated”.^[36] The collection showcased 537 paintings and 184 objects of art. Three-quarters were derived from the royal collections, the remainder from confiscated émigrés and Church property (biens nationaux).^{[37][21]: 68-69} To expand and organize the collection, the Republic dedicated 100,000 livres per year.^[32] In 1794, France’s revolutionary armies began bringing pieces from Northern Europe, augmented after the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) by works from the Vatican, such as the Laocoön and Apollo Belvedere, to establish the Louvre as a museum and as a “sign of popular sovereignty”.^[37][38]

The early days were hectic. Privileged artists continued to live in residence, and the unlabeled paintings hung “frame to frame from floor to ceiling”.^[37] The structure itself closed in May 1796 due to structural deficiencies. It reopened on 14 July 1801, arranged chronologically and with new lighting and columns.^[37] On 15 August 1797, the Galerie d’Apollon was opened with an exhibition of drawings. Meanwhile, the Louvre’s Gallery of Antiquity sculpture (musée des Antiques), with artefacts brought from Florence and the Vatican, had opened in November 1800 in Anne of Austria‘s former summer apartment, located on the ground floor just below the Galerie d’Apollon.

Napoleonic era

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See also: Napoleonic looting of art

On 19 November 1802, Napoleon appointed Dominique Vivant Denon, a scholar and polymath who had participated in the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, as the museum’s first director, in preference to alternative contenders such as antiquarian Ennio Quirino Visconti, painter Jacques-Louis David, sculptor Antonio Canova and architects Léon Dufourny or Pierre Fontaine.^[39] On Denon’s suggestion in July 1803, the museum itself was renamed Musée Napoléon.^[40]: 79

The collection grew through successful military campaigns.^[21]: 52 Acquisitions were made of Spanish, Austrian, Dutch, and Italian works, either as the result of war looting or formalized by treaties such as the Treaty of Tolentino.^[41] At the end of Napoleon’s First Italian Campaign in 1797, the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed with Count Philipp von Cobenzl of the Austrian Monarchy. This treaty marked the completion of Napoleon’s conquest of Italy and the end of the first phase of the French Revolutionary Wars. It compelled Italian cities to contribute pieces of art and heritage to Napoleon’s “parades of spoils” through Paris before being put into the Louvre Museum.^[42] The Horses of Saint Mark, which had adorned the basilica of San Marco in Venice after the sack of Constantinople in 1204, were brought to Paris where they were placed atop Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in 1797.^[42] Under the Treaty of Tolentino, the two statues of the Nile and Tiber were taken to Paris from the Vatican in 1797, and were both kept in the Louvre until 1815. (The Nile was later returned to Rome,^[43] whereas the Tiber has remained in the Louvre to this day.) The despoilment of Italian churches and palaces outraged the Italians and their artistic and cultural sensibilities.^[44]

After the French defeat at Waterloo, the looted works’ former owners sought their return. The Louvre’s administrator, Denon, was loath to comply in absence of a treaty of restitution. In response, foreign states sent emissaries to London to seek help, and many pieces were returned, though far from all.^{[41][21]: 69 [45]} In 1815 Louis XVIII finally concluded agreements with the Austrian government^[46][47] for the keeping of works such as Veronese’s Wedding at Cana which was exchanged for a large Le Brun or the repurchase of the Albani collection.

From 1815 to 1852

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For most of the 19th century, from Napoleon‘s time to the Second Empire, the Louvre and other national museums were managed under the monarch’s civil list and thus depended much on the ruler’s personal involvement. Whereas the most iconic collection remained that of paintings in the Grande Galerie, a number of other initiatives mushroomed in the vast building, named as if they were separate museums even though they were generally managed under the same administrative umbrella. Correspondingly, the museum complex was often referred to in the plural (“les musées du Louvre“) rather than singular.^[48]

During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830), Louis XVIII and Charles X added to the collections. The Greek and Roman sculpture gallery on the ground floor of the southwestern side of the Cour Carrée was completed on designs by Percier and Fontaine. In 1819 an exhibition of manufactured products was opened in the first floor of the Cour Carrée’s southern wing and would stay there until the mid-1820s.^[40]: 87 Charles X in 1826 created the Musée Égyptien and in 1827 included it in his broader Musée Charles X, a new section of the museum complex located in a suite of lavishly decorated rooms on the first floor of the South Wing of the Cour Carrée. The Egyptian collection, initially curated by Jean-François Champollion, formed the basis for what is now the Louvre’s Department of Egyptian Antiquities. It was formed from the purchased collections of Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt and the second collection of Bernardino Drovetti (the first one having been purchased by Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia to form the core of the present Museo Egizio in Turin). The Restoration period also saw the opening in 1824 of the Galerie d’Angoulême, a section of largely French sculptures on the ground floor of the Northwestern side of the Cour Carrée, many of whose artefacts came from the Palace of Versailles and from Alexandre Lenoir’s Musée des Monuments Français following its closure in 1816. Meanwhile, the French Navy created an exhibition of ship models in the Louvre in December 1827, initially named musée dauphin in honor of Dauphin Louis Antoine,^[49] building on an 18th-century initiative of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau. This collection, renamed musée naval in 1833 and later to develop into the Musée national de la Marine, was initially located on the first floor of the Cour Carrée’s North Wing, and in 1838 moved up one level to the 2nd-floor attic, where it remained for more than a century.^[50]

• Rooms of the Musée Charles X
• First room
• Room 27
• Room 29
• Salle des Colonnes
• Room 35
• Room 36
• Room 38

Ceiling decorations designed by Félix Duban in the Salon Carré (left) and Salle des Sept-Cheminées (right), late 1840s

Following the July Revolution, King Louis Philippe focused his interest on the repurposing of the Palace of Versailles into a Museum of French History conceived as a project of national reconciliation, and the Louvre was kept in comparative neglect. Louis-Philippe did, however, sponsor the creation of the musée assyrien to host the monumental Assyrian sculpture works brought to Paris by Paul-Émile Botta, in the ground-floor gallery north of the eastern entrance of the Cour Carrée. The Assyrian Museum opened on 1 May 1847.^[51] Separately, Louis-Philippe had his Spanish gallery displayed in the Louvre from 7 January 1838, in five rooms on the first floor of the Cour Carrée’s East (Colonnade) Wing,^[52] but the collection remained his personal property. As a consequence, the works were removed after Louis-Philippe was deposed in 1848, and were eventually auctioned away in 1853.

The short-lived Second Republic had more ambitions for the Louvre. It initiated repair work, the completion of the Galerie d’Apollon and of the salle des sept-cheminées, and the overhaul of the Salon Carré (former site of the iconic yearly Salon) and of the Grande Galerie.^[21]: 52 In 1848, the Naval Museum in the Cour Carrée’s attic was brought under the common Louvre Museum management,^[50] a change which was again reversed in 1920. In 1850 under the leadership of curator Adrien de Longpérier, the musée mexicain opened within the Louvre as the first European museum dedicated to pre-Columbian art.^[53]

Second Empire

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Main article: Napoleon III’s Louvre expansion

The rule of Napoleon III was transformational for the Louvre, both the building and the museum. In 1852, he created the Musée des Souverains in the Colonnade Wing, an ideological project aimed at buttressing his personal legitimacy. In 1861, he bought 11,835 artworks including 641 paintings, Greek gold and other antiquities of the Campana collection. For its display, he created another new section within the Louvre named Musée Napoléon III, occupying a number of rooms in various parts of the building. Between 1852 and 1870, the museum added 20,000 new artefacts to its collections.^[54]

The main change of that period was to the building itself. In the 1850s architects Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel created massive new spaces around what is now called the Cour Napoléon, some of which (in the South Wing, now Aile Denon) went to the museum.^{[21]: 52-54} In the 1860s, Lefuel also led the creation of the pavillon des Sessions with a new Salle des Etats closer to Napoleon III’s residence in the Tuileries Palace, with the effect of shortening the Grande Galerie by about a third of its previous length. A smaller but significant Second Empire project was the decoration of the salle des Empereurs below the Salon carré.^{[citation needed]}

• Entrance to a section of the Musée Napoléon III from the salle des séances, then a double-height space
• Galerie Daru, part of the New Louvre building program under Napoleon III
• Salle Daru above the galerie Daru, also created under Napoleon III
• Escalier Mollien in the New Louvre
• Salle des Empereurs

From 1870 to 1981

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The Louvre narrowly escaped serious damage during the suppression of the Paris Commune. On 23 May 1871, as the French Army advanced into Paris, a force of Communards led by Jules Bergeret [fr] set fire to the adjoining Tuileries Palace. The fire burned for forty-eight hours, entirely destroying the interior of the Tuileries and spreading to the north west wing of the museum next to it. The emperor’s Louvre library (Bibliothèque du Louvre) and some of the adjoining halls, in what is now the Richelieu Wing, were separately destroyed. But the museum was saved by the efforts of Paris firemen and museum employees led by curator Henry Barbet de Jouy.^[55]

Following the end of the monarchy, several spaces in the Louvre’s South Wing went to the museum. The Salle du Manège was transferred to the museum in 1879, and in 1928 became its main entrance lobby.^[56] The large Salle des Etats that had been created by Lefuel between the Grande Galerie and Pavillon Denon was redecorated in 1886 by Edmond Guillaume [fr], Lefuel’s successor as architect of the Louvre, and opened as a spacious exhibition room.^[57][58] Edomond Guillaume also decorated the first-floor room at the northwest corner of the Cour Carrée, on the ceiling of which he placed in 1890 a monumental painting by Carolus-Duran, The Triumph of Marie de’ Medici originally created in 1879 for the Luxembourg Palace.^[58]

Meanwhile, during the Third Republic (1870–1940) the Louvre acquired new artefacts mainly via donations, gifts, and sharing arrangements on excavations abroad. The 583-item Collection La Caze, donated in 1869 by Louis La Caze, included works by Chardin; Fragonard, Rembrandt and Watteau.^{[21]: 70-71} In 1883, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which had been found in the Aegean Sea in 1863, was prominently displayed as the focal point of the Escalier Daru.^{[21]: 70-71} Major artifacts excavated at Susa in Iran, including the massive Apadana capital and glazed brick decoration from the Palace of Darius there, accrued to the Oriental (Near Eastern) Antiquities Department in the 1880s. The Société des amis du Louvre was established in 1897 and donated prominent works, such as the Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The expansion of the museum and its collections slowed after World War I, however, despite some prominent acquisitions such as Georges de La Tour‘s Saint Thomas and Baron Edmond de Rothschild‘s 1935 donation of 4,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 500 illustrated books.

From the late 19th century, the Louvre gradually veered away from its mid-century ambition of universality to become a more focused museum of French, Western and Near Eastern art, covering a space ranging from Iran to the Atlantic. The collections of the Louvre’s musée mexicain were transferred to the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro in 1887. As the Musée de Marine was increasingly constrained to display its core naval-themed collections in the limited space it had in the second-floor attic of the northern half of the Cour Carrée, many of its significant holdings of non-Western artefacts were transferred in 1905 to the Trocadéro ethnography museum, the National Antiquities Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and the Chinese Museum in the Palace of Fontainebleau.^[59] The Musée de Marine itself was relocated to the Palais de Chaillot in 1943. The Louvre’s extensive collections of Asian art were moved to the Guimet Museum in 1945. Nevertheless, the Louvre’s first gallery of Islamic art opened in 1893.^[60]

In the late 1920s, Louvre Director Henri Verne devised a master plan for the rationalization of the museum’s exhibitions, which was partly implemented in the following decade. In 1932–1934, Louvre architects Camille Lefèvre [fr] and Albert Ferran redesigned the Escalier Daru to its current appearance. The Cour du Sphinx in the South Wing was covered by a glass roof in 1934. Decorative arts exhibits were expanded in the first floor of the North Wing of the Cour Carrée, including some of France’s first period room displays. In the late 1930s, The La Caze donation was moved to a remodeled Salle La Caze above the salle des Caryatides, with reduced height to create more rooms on the second floor and a sober interior design by Albert Ferran.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, the Louvre conducted an elaborate plan of evacuation of its art collection. When Germany occupied the Sudetenland, many important artworks such as the Mona Lisa were temporarily moved to the Château de Chambord. When war was formally declared a year later, most of the museum’s paintings were sent there as well. Select sculptures such as Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo were sent to the Château de Valençay.^[62] On 27 August 1939, after two days of packing, truck convoys began to leave Paris. By 28 December, the museum was cleared of most works, except those that were too heavy and “unimportant paintings [that] were left in the basement”.^[63] In early 1945, after the liberation of France, art began returning to the Louvre.^[64]

New arrangements after the war revealed the further evolution of taste away from the lavish decorative practices of the late 19th century. In 1947, Edmond Guillaume’s ceiling ornaments were removed from the Salle des Etats,^[58] where the Mona Lisa was first displayed in 1966.^[65] Around 1950, Louvre architect Jean-Jacques Haffner [fr] streamlined the interior decoration of the Grande Galerie.^[58] In 1953, a new ceiling by Georges Braque was inaugurated in the Salle Henri II, next to the Salle La Caze.^[66] In the late 1960s, seats designed by Pierre Paulin were installed in the Grande Galerie.^[67] In 1972, the Salon Carré‘s museography was remade with lighting from a hung tubular case, designed by Louvre architect Marc Saltet [fr] with assistance from designers André Monpoix [fr], Joseph-André Motte and Paulin.^[68]

In 1961, the Finance Ministry accepted to leave the Pavillon de Flore at the southwestern end of the Louvre building, as Verne had recommended in his 1920s plan. New exhibition spaces of sculptures (ground floor) and paintings (first floor) opened there later in the 1960s, on a design by government architect Olivier Lahalle.^[69]

Grand Louvre

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Main article: Grand Louvre

In 1981, French President François Mitterrand proposed, as one of his Grands Projets, the Grand Louvre plan to relocate the Finance Ministry, until then housed in the North Wing of the Louvre, and thus devote almost the entire Louvre building (except its northwestern tip, which houses the separate Musée des Arts Décoratifs) to the museum which would be correspondingly restructured. In 1984 I. M. Pei, the architect personally selected by Mitterrand, proposed a master plan including an underground entrance space accessed through a glass pyramid in the Louvre’s central Cour Napoléon.^[21]: 66

The open spaces surrounding the pyramid were inaugurated on 15 October 1988, and its underground lobby was opened on 30 March 1989. New galleries of early modern French paintings on the 2nd floor of the Cour Carrée, for which the planning had started before the Grand Louvre, also opened in 1989. Further rooms in the same sequence, designed by Italo Rota, opened on 15 December 1992.^{[citation needed]}

On 18 November 1993, Mitterrand inaugurated the next major phase of the Grand Louvre plan: the renovated North (Richelieu) Wing in the former Finance Ministry site, the museum’s largest single expansion in its entire history, designed by Pei, his French associate Michel Macary, and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Further underground spaces known as the Carrousel du Louvre, centered on the Inverted Pyramid and designed by Pei and Macary, had opened in October 1993. Other refurbished galleries, of Italian sculptures and Egyptian antiquities, opened in 1994. The third and last main phase of the plan unfolded mainly in 1997, with new renovated rooms in the Sully and Denon wings. A new entrance at the porte des Lions opened in 1998, leading on the first floor to new rooms of Spanish paintings.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2002, the Louvre’s visitor count had doubled from its pre-Grand-Louvre levels.^[70]

• The Napoleon Courtyard and I. M. Pei‘s pyramid in its center, at dusk

21st century

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President Jacques Chirac, who had succeeded Mitterrand in 1995, insisted on the return of non-Western art to the Louvre, upon a recommendation from his friend the art collector and dealer Jacques Kerchache [fr]. On his initiative, a selection of highlights from the collections of what would become the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac was installed on the ground floor of the Pavillon des Sessions and opened in 2000, six years ahead of the Musée du Quai Branly itself.

The main other initiative in the aftermath of the Grand Louvre project was Chirac’s decision to create a new department of Islamic Art, by executive order of 1 August 2003, and to move the corresponding collections from their prior underground location in the Richelieu Wing to a more prominent site in the Denon Wing. That new section opened on 22 September 2012, together with collections from the Roman-era Eastern Mediterranean, with financial support from the Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation and on a design by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti.^[71][72][73]

In 2007, German painter Anselm Kiefer was invited to create a work for the North stairs of the Perrault Colonnade, Athanor. This decision announces the museum’s reengagement with contemporary art under the direction of Henri Loyrette, fifty years after the institution’s last order to a contemporary artists, George Braque.^[74]

In 2010, American painter Cy Twombly completed a new ceiling for the Salle des Bronzes (the former Salle La Caze), a counterpoint to that of Braque installed in 1953 in the adjacent Salle Henri II. The room’s floor and walls were redesigned in 2021 by Louvre architect Michel Goutal to revert the changes made by his predecessor Albert Ferran in the late 1930s, triggering protests from the Cy Twombly Foundation on grounds that the then-deceased painter’s work had been created to fit with the room’s prior decoration.^[75]

That same year, the Louvre commissioned French artist François Morellet to create a work for the Lefuel stairs, on the first floor. For L’esprit d’escalier Morellet redesigned the stairscase’s windows, echoing their original structures but distorting them to create a disturbing optical effect.^[76]

On 6 June 2014, the Decorative Arts section on the first floor of the Cour Carrée‘s northern wing opened after comprehensive refurbishment.^[77]

In January 2020, under the direction of Jean-Luc Martinez, the museum inaugurated a new contemporary art commission, L’Onde du Midi by Venezuelan kinetic artist Elias Crespin. The sculpture hovers under the Escalier du Midi, the staircase on the South of the Perrault Colonnade.^[78]

The Louvre, like many other museums and galleries, felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage. It was closed for six months during French coronavirus lockdowns and saw visitor numbers plunge to 2.7 million in 2020, from 9.6 million in 2019 and 10.2 million in 2018, which was a record year.^[79][80]

In preparation for the 2024 Olympics, the Louvre staged an exhibit about the Games’ history that links their ancient beginnings to the modern era.^[81]

Attendance rose to 8.9 million in 2023, 14 percent above 2022, but still short of the record of 10.2 million in 2018.^[10]

In January 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans for a renovation and expansion of the Louvre, including a room solely for the Mona Lisa. The planned renovation and expansion was a result of the increasing number of visitors each year to the Louvre.^[82]

• The Pavillon des Sessions‘s display of non-Western art from the Musée du Quai Branly, opened in 2000
• The Cour Visconti‘s ground floor covered to host the new Islamic Art Department in 2012
• Islamic art display in the covered Cour Visconti, 2012
• Underground display of the Islamic Art Department, 2012

Collections

[edit]

The Musée du Louvre owns 615,797 objects^[1] of which 482,943 are accessible online since 24 March 2021^[83] and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments.^[2]

The Louvre is home to one of the world’s most extensive collections of art, including works from diverse cultures and time periods. Visitors can view iconic works like the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, as well as pieces from ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The museum also features collections of decorative arts, Islamic art, and sculptures.^[84]

Egyptian antiquities

[edit]

Main article: Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre

The department, comprising over 50,000 pieces,^[21]: 74 includes artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD.^[85] The collection, among the world’s largest, overviews Egyptian life spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods.^[85]

The department’s origins lie in the royal collection, but it was augmented by Napoleon’s 1798 expeditionary trip with Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre.^{[21]: 76-77} After Jean-François Champollion translated the Rosetta Stone, Charles X decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created. Champollion advised the purchase of three collections, formed by Edmé-Antoine Durand, Henry Salt, and Bernardino Drovetti; these additions added 7,000 works. Growth continued via acquisitions by Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at Memphis, sent back crates of archaeological finds including The Seated Scribe.^{[21]: 76-77 [86]}

Guarded by the Great Sphinx of Tanis, the collection is housed in more than 20 rooms. Holdings include art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments, and weapons.^{[21]: 76-77 [85]} Pieces from the ancient period include the Gebel el-Arak Knife from 3400 BC, The Seated Scribe, and the Head of King Djedefre. Middle Kingdom art, “known for its gold work and statues”, moved from realism to idealization; this is exemplified by the schist statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer. The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are deep, but the statue of the goddess Nephthys and the limestone depiction of the goddess Hathor demonstrate New Kingdom sentiment and wealth.^[85][86]

• The Gebel el-Arak Knife; 3300-3200 BC; handle: elephant ivory, blade: flint; length: 25.8 cm
• The Seated Scribe; 2613–2494 BC; painted limestone and inlaid quartz; height: 53.7 cm
• The Great Sphinx of Tanis; circa 2600 BC; rose granite; height: 183 cm, width: 154 cm, thickness: 480 cm
• Akhenaten and Nefertiti; 1345 BC; painted limestone; height: 22.2 cm, width: 12.3 cm, thickness: 9.8 cm

Near Eastern antiquities

[edit]

Near Eastern antiquities, the second newest department, dates from 1881 and presents an overview of early Near Eastern civilization and “first settlements”, before the arrival of Islam. The department is divided into three geographic areas: the Levant, Mesopotamia (Iraq), and Persia (Iran). The collection’s development corresponds to archaeological work such as Paul-Émile Botta‘s 1843 expedition to Khorsabad and the discovery of Sargon II‘s palace.^{[85][21]: 119} These finds formed the basis of the Assyrian museum, the precursor to today’s department.^[85]

The museum contains exhibits from Sumer and the city of Akkad, with monuments such as the Prince of Lagash’s Stele of the Vultures from 2450 BC and the stele erected by Naram-Sin, King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the Zagros Mountains. The 2.25-metre (7.38 ft) Code of Hammurabi, discovered in 1901, displays Babylonian Laws prominently, so that no man could plead their ignorance. The 18th-century BC mural of the Investiture of Zimrilim and the 25th-century BC Statue of Ebih-Il found in the ancient city-state of Mari are also on display at the museum.^[87]

A significant portion of the department covers the ancient Levant, including the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II discovered in 1855, which catalyzed Ernest Renan‘s 1860 Mission de Phénicie. It contains one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions. The section also covers North African Punic antiquities (Punic = Western Phoenician), given the significant French presence in the region in the 19th century, with early finds including the 1843 discovery of the Ain Nechma inscriptions.

The Persian portion of Louvre contains work from the archaic period, like the Funerary Head and the Persian Archers of Darius I,^[85][88] and rare objects from Persepolis.^[89]

• Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, one of only three Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi found outside Egypt, and the first Phoenician inscription discovered in Phoenicia
• Phoenician metal bowls from Cyprus
• The Statue of Ebih-Il; circa 2400 BC; gypsum, schist, shells and lapis lazuli; height: 52.5 cm
• The Code of Hammurabi; 1755–1750 BC; basalt; height: 225 cm, width: 79 cm, thickness: 47 cm
• Assyrian lamassu (Human-headed winged bull); circa 713–716 BC; 4.2 x 4.4 x 1 m
• Frieze of archers, from the Palace of Darius at Susa; circa 510 BC; bricks
• Statues from the Sidon Mithraeum

Greek, Etruscan, and Roman

[edit]

The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department displays pieces from the Mediterranean Basin dating from the Neolithic to the 6th century.^[90] The collection spans from the Cycladic period to the decline of the Roman Empire. This department is one of the museum’s oldest, and contains works acquired by Francis I.^{[85][21]: 155-58} Initially, the collection focused on marble sculptures, such as the Venus de Milo. Works such as the Apollo Belvedere arrived during the Napoleonic Wars, of which some were returned after Napoleon I’s fall in 1815. Other works, such as the Borghese Vase, were bought by Napoleon. Later in the 19th century, the Louvre acquired works including vases from the Durand collection and bronzes.^{[21]: 92 [90]}

The archaic is demonstrated by jewellery and pieces such as the limestone Lady of Auxerre, from 640 BC; and the cylindrical Hera of Samos, c. 570–560 BC.^[85][91] After the 4th century BC, focus on the human form increased, exemplified by the Borghese Gladiator. The Louvre holds masterpieces from the Hellenistic era, including The Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) and the Venus de Milo, symbolic of classical art.^[21]: 155 The long Galerie Campana displays an outstanding collection of more than one thousand Greek potteries. In the galleries paralleling the Seine, much of the museum’s Roman sculpture is displayed.^[90] The Roman portraiture is representative of that genre; examples include the portraits of Agrippa and Annius Verus; among the bronzes is the Greek Apollo of Piombino.

• Cycladic head of a woman; 27th century BC; marble; height: 27 cm
• Volute krater that depicts Actaeon‘s death; circa 450–440 BC; ceramic; height: 51 cm, diameter: 33.1 cm
• The Winged Victory of Samothrace; 200–190 BC; Parian marble; 244 cm
• Venus de Milo; 130–100 BC; marble; height: 203 cm
• Las Incantadas, sculptures from a portico that adorned the Roman Forum of Thessalonica, 150-230 AD^[92]

Islamic art

[edit]

The Islamic art collection, the museum’s newest, spans “thirteen centuries and three continents”.^[93] These exhibits, of ceramics, glass, metalware, wood, ivory, carpet, textiles, and miniatures, include more than 5,000 works and 1,000 shards.^[94] Originally part of the decorative arts department, the holdings became separate in 2003. Among the works are the Pyxide d’al-Mughira, a 10th century ivory box from Andalusia; the Baptistery of Saint-Louis, an engraved brass basin from the 13th or 14th century Mamluk period; and the 10th century Shroud of Saint-Josse from Iran.^{[21]: 119-121 [93]} The collection contains three pages of the Shahnameh, an epic book of poems by Ferdowsi in Persian, and a Syrian metalwork named the Barberini Vase.^[94] In September 2019, a new and improved Islamic art department was opened by Princess Lamia bint Majed Al Saud. The new department exhibits 3,000 pieces were collected from Spain to India via the Arabian peninsula dating from the 7th to the 19th centuries.^[95]

• The Pyxis of al-Mughira; 10th century (maybe 968); ivory; 15 x 8 cm
• Iranian tile with bismillah; turn of the 13th-14th century; molded ceramic, luster glaze and glaze
• The Baptistère de Saint Louis; by Muhammad ibn al-Zayn; 1320–1340; hammering, engraving, inlay in brass, gold, and silver; 50.2 x 22.2 cm
• Door; 15th-16th century; sculpted, painted and gilded walnut wood

Sculptures

[edit]

See also: List of works in the Louvre

The sculpture department consists of works created before 1850 not belonging in the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman department.^[96] The Louvre has been a repository of sculpted material since its time as a palace; however, only ancient architecture was displayed until 1824, except for Michelangelo‘s Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave.^{[21]: 397-401} Initially the collection included only 100 pieces, the rest of the royal sculpture collection being at Versailles. It remained small until 1847, when Léon Laborde was given control of the department. Laborde developed the medieval section and purchased the first such statues and sculptures in the collection, King Childebert and stanga door, respectively.^{[21]: 397-401} The collection was part of the Department of Antiquities but was given autonomy in 1871 under Louis Courajod, a director who organized a wider representation of French works.^{[96][21]: 397-401} In 1986, all post-1850 works were relocated to the new Musée d’Orsay. The Grand Louvre project separated the department into two exhibition spaces; the French collection is displayed in the Richelieu Wing, and foreign works in the Denon Wing.^[96]

The collection’s overview of French sculpture contains Romanesque works such as the 11th-century Daniel in the Lions’ Den and the 12th-century Virgin of Auvergne. In the 16th century, Renaissance influence caused French sculpture to become more restrained, as seen in Jean Goujon‘s bas-reliefs, and Germain Pilon‘s Descent from the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. The 17th and 18th centuries are represented by Gian Lorenzo Bernini‘s 1640–1 Bust of Cardinal Richelieu, Étienne Maurice Falconet‘s Woman Bathing and Amour menaçant, and François Anguier‘s obelisks. Neoclassical works includes Antonio Canova‘s Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (1787).^{[21]: 397-401} The 18th and 19th centuries are represented by the French sculptors like Alfred Barye and Émile Guillemin.

• The Tomb of Philippe Pot; 1477 and 1483; limestone, paint, gold and lead; height: 181 cm, width: 260 cm, depth: 167 cm
• The King’s Fame Riding Pegasus; by Antoine Coysevox; 1701–1702; Carrara marble; height: 3.15 m, width: 2.91 m, depth: 1.28 m
• Group sculpture; by Nicolas Coustou; 1701–1712; marble; height: 2.44 m
• Louis XV as Jupiter; 1731; probably marble; height: 1.95 m, width: 1.20 m, depth: 68 cm

Decorative arts

[edit]

Some of the Second Empire style rooms of the apartments of Napoleon III

The Objets d’art collection spans the time from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The department began as a subset of the sculpture department, based on royal property and the transfer of work from the Basilique Saint-Denis, the burial ground of French monarchs that held the Coronation Sword of the Kings of France.^{[97][21]: 451-454} Among the budding collection’s most prized works were pietre dure vases and bronzes. The Durand collection’s 1825 acquisition added “ceramics, enamels, and stained glass”, and 800 pieces were given by Pierre Révoil. The onset of Romanticism rekindled interest in Renaissance and Medieval artwork, and the Sauvageot donation expanded the department with 1,500 middle-age and faïence works. In 1862, the Campana collection added gold jewelry and maiolicas, mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries.^{[21]: 451-454 [98]}

The works are displayed on the Richelieu Wing’s first floor and in the Apollo Gallery, named by the painter Charles Le Brun, who was commissioned by Louis XIV (the Sun King) to decorate the space in a solar theme. The medieval collection contains the coronation crown of Louis XV, Charles V’s sceptre, and the 12th century porphyry vase.^[99] The Renaissance art holdings include Giambologna‘s bronze Nessus and Deianira and the tapestry Maximillian’s Hunt.^[97] From later periods, highlights include Madame de Pompadour‘s Sèvres vase collection and Napoleon III‘s apartments.^[97]

In September 2000, the Louvre Museum dedicated the Gilbert Chagoury and Rose-Marie Chagoury Gallery to display tapestries donated by the Chagourys, including a 16th-century six-part tapestry suite, sewn with gold and silver threads representing sea divinities, which was commissioned in Paris for Colbert de Seignelay, Secretary of State for the Navy.

• Henry II style wardrobe; c. 1580; walnut and oak, partially gilded and painted; height: 2.06 m, width: 1.50 m, depth: 0.60 m^[100]
• Louis XIV style cabinet on stand; by André Charles Boulle; c. 1690–1710; oak frame, resinous wood and walnut, ebony veneer, tortoiseshell, brass and pewter marquetry, and ormolu
• Louis XVI style commode of Madame du Barry; 1772; oak frame, veneer of pearwood, rosewood and kingwood, soft-paste Sèvres porcelain, gilded bronze, white marble, and glass; height: 0.87 m, width: 1.19 m, depth: 0.48 m^[101]
• Louis XVI style barometer-thermometer; c. 1776; soft-paste Sèvres porcelain, enamel, and ormolu; height: 1 m, width: 0.27 m^[102]

Painting

[edit]

Further information: Catalog of paintings in the Louvre Museum

The painting collection has more than 7,500 works^[13]: 229 from the 13th century to 1848 and is managed by 12 curators who oversee the collection’s display. Nearly two-thirds are by French artists, and more than 1,200 are Northern European. The Italian paintings compose most of the remnants of Francis I and Louis XIV’s collections, others are unreturned artwork from the Napoleon era, and some were bought.^{[103][21]: 199-201, 272–273, 333–335} The collection began with Francis, who acquired works from Italian masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo^[104] and brought Leonardo da Vinci to his court.^[105][106] After the French Revolution, the Royal Collection formed the nucleus of the Louvre. When the d’Orsay train station was converted into the Musée d’Orsay in 1986, the collection was split, and pieces completed after the 1848 Revolution were moved to the new museum. French and Northern European works are in the Richelieu Wing and Cour Carrée; Spanish and Italian paintings are on the first floor of the Denon Wing.^[21]: 199

Exemplifying the French School are the early Avignon Pietà of Enguerrand Quarton; the anonymous painting of King Jean le Bon (c. 1360), possibly the oldest independent portrait in Western painting to survive from the postclassical era;^[21]: 201 Hyacinthe Rigaud‘s Louis XIV; Jacques-Louis David‘s The Coronation of Napoleon; Théodore Géricault‘s The Raft of the Medusa; and Eugène Delacroix‘s Liberty Leading the People. Nicolas Poussin, the Le Nain brothers, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Brun, La Tour, Watteau, Fragonard, Ingres, Corot, and Delacroix are well represented.^[107]

Northern European works include Johannes Vermeer‘s The Lacemaker and The Astronomer; Caspar David Friedrich‘s The Tree of Crows; Rembrandt‘s The Supper at Emmaus, Bathsheba at Her Bath, and The Slaughtered Ox.

The Italian holdings are notable, particularly the Renaissance collection.^[108] The works include Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini‘s Calvarys, which reflect realism and detail “meant to depict the significant events of a greater spiritual world”.^[109] The High Renaissance collection includes Leonardo da Vinci‘s Mona Lisa, Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. John the Baptist, and Madonna of the Rocks. The Baroque collection includes Giambattista Pittoni‘s The Continence of Scipio, Susanna and the Elders, Bacchus and Ariadne, Mars and Venus, and others Caravaggio is represented by The Fortune Teller and Death of the Virgin. From 16th century Venice, the Louvre displays Titian‘s Le Concert Champetre, The Entombment, and The Crowning with Thorns.^{[21]: 378 [110]}

The La Caze Collection, a bequest to the Musée du Louvre in 1869 by Louis La Caze, was the largest contribution of a person in the history of the Louvre. La Caze gave 584 paintings of his personal collection to the museum. The bequest included Antoine Watteau‘s Commedia dell’arte player of Pierrot (“Gilles”). In 2007, this bequest was the topic of the exhibition “1869: Watteau, Chardin… entrent au Louvre. La collection La Caze”.^[111]

Some of the best known paintings of the museum have been digitized by the French Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France.^[112]

• The Money Changer and His Wife; by Quentin Massys; 1514; oil on panel; 70.5 × 67 cm
• Spring; by Giuseppe Arcimboldo; 1573; oil on canvas; 76 × 64 cm
• Susanna and the Elders; by Giambattista Pittoni; 1720; oil on panel; 37 × 46 cm
• The Continence of Scipio; by Giambattista Pittoni; 1733; oil on panel; 96 × 56 cm
• Diana after the Bath; by François Boucher; 1742; oil on canvas; 73 × 56 cm
• Oath of the Horatii; by Jacques-Louis David; 1784; oil on canvas; height: 330 cm, width: 425 cm
• The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David

• Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci purchased by François I
• Virgin of the Rocks
• The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (Leonardo)

Prints and drawings

[edit]

The prints and drawings department encompasses works on paper.^[21]: 496 The origins of the collection were the 8,600 works in the Royal Collection (Cabinet du Roi), which were increased via state appropriation, purchases such as the 1,200 works from Fillipo Baldinucci’s collection in 1806, and donations.^{[21]: 92 [113]} The department opened on 5 August 1797, with 415 pieces displayed in the Galerie d’Apollon. The collection is organized into three sections: the core Cabinet du Roi, 14,000 royal copper printing-plates, and the donations of Edmond de Rothschild,^[114] which include 40,000 prints, 3,000 drawings, and 5,000 illustrated books. The holdings are displayed in the Pavillon de Flore; due to the fragility of the paper medium, only a portion are displayed at one time.^[21]: 496

• Three lion-like heads; by Charles Le Brun; c. 1671; black chalk, pen and ink, brush and gray wash, white gouache on paper; 21.7 × 32.7 cm
• Bacchus; by Antoine Coypel; black chalk, white highlights, and sanguine; 42.7 × 37.7 cm
• Studies of Women’s Heads and a Man’s Head; by Antoine Watteau; first half of the 18th century; sanguine, black chalk and white chalk on gray paper; 28 × 38.1 cm
• Danseuse sur la scène; by Edgar Degas; pastel; 58 × 42 cm
• Portrait of elderly woman, by Matthias Grünewald
• Portrait of a young woman, by Hans Holbein
• Head of a man, by Andrea del Sarto
• Virgin and Child, by Biagio Pupini

Management, administration, partnerships

[edit]

The Louvre is owned by the French government. Since the 1990s, its management and governance have been made more independent.^{[115][116][117][118]} Since 2003, the museum has been required to generate funds for projects.^[117] By 2006, government funds had dipped from 75 percent of the total budget to 62 percent. Every year, the Louvre now raises as much as it gets from the state, about €122 million. The government pays for operating costs (salaries, safety, and maintenance), while the rest – new wings, refurbishments, acquisitions – is up to the museum to finance.^[119] A further €3 million to €5 million a year is raised by the Louvre from exhibitions that it curates for other museums, while the host museum keeps the ticket money.^[119] As the Louvre became a point of interest in the book The Da Vinci Code and the 2006 film based on the book, the museum earned $2.5 million by allowing filming in its galleries.^[120][121] In 2008, the French government provided $180 million of the Louvre’s yearly $350 million budget; the remainder came from private contributions and ticket sales.^[116]

The Louvre employs a staff of 2,000 led by Director Jean-Luc Martinez,^[122] who reports to the French Ministry of Culture and Communications. Martinez replaced Henri Loyrette in April 2013. Under Loyrette, who replaced Pierre Rosenberg in 2001, the Louvre has undergone policy changes that allow it to lend and borrow more works than before.^[115][117] In 2006, it loaned 1,300 works, which enabled it to borrow more foreign works. From 2006 to 2009, the Louvre lent artwork to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, and received a $6.9 million payment to be used for renovations.^[117]

In 2009, Minister of culture Frédéric Mitterrand approved a plan that would have created a storage facility 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Paris to hold objects from the Louvre and two other national museums in Paris’s flood zone, the Musée du Quai Branly and the Musée d’Orsay; the plan was later scrapped. In 2013, his successor Aurélie Filippetti announced that the Louvre would move more than 250,000 works of art^[123] held in a 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft) basement storage area in Liévin; the cost of the project, estimated at €60 million, will be split between the region (49%) and the Louvre (51%).^[124] The Louvre will be the sole owner and manager of the store.^[123] In July 2015, a team led by British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was selected to design the complex, which will have light-filled work spaces under one vast, green roof.^[123][125]

In 2012, the Louvre and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced a five-year collaboration on exhibitions, publications, art conservation and educational programming.^[126][127] The €98.5 million expansion of the Islamic Art galleries in 2012 received state funding of €31 million, as well as €17 million from the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation founded by the eponymous Saudi prince. The Republic of Azerbaijan, the Emir of Kuwait, the Sultan of Oman and King Mohammed VI of Morocco donated in total €26 million. In addition, the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is supposed to provide €400 million over the course of 30 years for its use of the museum’s brand.^[71] Loyrette has tried to improve weak parts of the collection through income generated from loans of art and by guaranteeing that “20% of admissions receipts will be taken annually for acquisitions”.^[117] He has more administrative independence for the museum and achieved 90 percent of galleries to be open daily, as opposed to 80 percent previously. He oversaw the creation of extended hours and free admission on Friday nights and an increase in the acquisition budget to $36 million from $4.5 million.^[116][117]

In March 2018, an exhibition of dozens of artworks and relics belonging to France’s Louvre Museum was opened to visitors in Tehran, as a result of an agreement between Iranian and French presidents in 2016.^[128] In the Louvre, two departments were allocated to the antiquities of the Iranian civilization, and the managers of the two departments visited Tehran. Relics belonging to Ancient Egypt, Rome and Mesopotamia as well as French royal items were showcased at the Tehran exhibition.^{[129][130][131]}

Iran’s National Museum building was designed and constructed by French architect André Godard.^[132] Following its time in Tehran, the exhibition is set to be held in the Khorasan Grand Museum in Mashhad, northeastern Iran in June 2018.^[133]

On the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Louvre held the largest ever single exhibit of his work, from 24 October 2019 to 24 February 2020.^[134][135] The event included over a hundred items: paintings, drawings and notebooks. A full 11 of the fewer than 20 paintings that Da Vinci completed in his lifetime were displayed.^[136] Five of them are owned by the Louvre, but the Mona Lisa was not included because it is in such great demand among visitors to the Louvre museum; the work remained on display in its gallery. Salvator Mundi was also not included since the Saudi owner did not agree to move the work from its hiding place. Vitruvian Man, however, was on display, after a successful legal battle with its owner, the Galleria dell’Accademia in Venice.^[137][138]

In 2021, a Renaissance era ceremonial helmet and breastplate stolen from the museum in 1983 were recovered. The museum noted that the 1983 theft had “deeply troubled all the staff at the time.” There are few publicly accessible details on the theft itself.^[139][140]

The current director of the Louvre is Laurence des Cars, who was selected by French president Emmanuel Macron in 2021.^[141][142] She is the first woman to hold this position.^[143] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Louvre has launched a digital platform where most of its works, including those that are not on display, can be seen. The database includes more than 482,000 illustrated records, representing 75% of the Louvre’s collections.^[144] The museum was visited by over 7.6 million visitors in 2022, up 170 percent from 2021, but still below the 10.8 million visitors in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic.^[145]

In 2023, the Louvre Museum in Paris implemented a significant change in its pricing policy, marking the first price increase since 2017.^[146] The decision to raise ticket prices by 30% is part of a broader strategy aimed at supporting free entry during the Olympics and effectively managing the anticipated crowd. Director Laurence des Cars has introduced measures to regulate attendance, including capping daily visitors at 30,000 and planning a new entrance to alleviate congestion. These efforts are geared towards ensuring a top-notch experience for art enthusiasts during the Olympic Games, as the museum expects to host approximately 8.7 million visitors this year, with a remarkable 80% seeking to view the Mona Lisa.

Archaeological research

[edit]

The Louvre’s ancient art collections are to a significant extent the product of excavations, some of which the museum sponsored under various legal regimes over time, often as a companion to France’s diplomacy and/or colonial enterprises. In the Rotonde d’Apollon, a carved marble panel lists a number of such campaigns, led by:

• Louis-François-Sébastien Fauvel in Greece (1818)
• Jean-François Champollion in Egypt (1828–1829)
• Guillaume-Abel Blouet and Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois with the Morea expedition in Greece (1829)
• Adolphe Delamare [fr] in Algeria (1842–1845)
• Paul-Émile Botta in the Nineveh Plains (1845)
• Joseph Vattier de Bourville [fr] in Cyrenaica (1850)
• Auguste Mariette in Egypt (1850–1854)
• Victor Langlois in Cilicia (1852)
• Ernest Renan with the Mission de Phénicie following the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus (1860–1861)
• Léon Heuzey and Honoré Daumet in Macedonia (1861)
• Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé and Edmond Duthoit in Cyprus (1863–1866)
• Charles Champoiseau in Samothrace (1863)
• Emmanuel Miller [de] in Thessaloniki and Thasos (1864–1865)
• Olivier Rayet and Albert-Félix-Théophile Thomas in Ionia (1872–1873)
• Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau in Palestine (1873)
• Antoine Héron de Villefosse [fr] in Algeria and Tunisia (1874)
• Ernest de Sarzec in Tello / ancient Girsu, Mesopotamia (1877–1900)
• Paul Girard in Greece (1881)
• Edmond Pottier, Salomon Reinach and Alphonse Veyries in Myrina (Aeolis) (1872–1873)
• Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy and Jane Dieulafoy in Susa, Persia (1884–1886)
• Charles Huber in Tayma, Arabia (1885)
• Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher in India and present-day Pakistan (1895–1897)
• Arthur Engel and Pierre Paris [de; es; fr] in Spain (1897)
• Jacques de Morgan in Susa (1897)
• Gaston Cros in Tello / ancient Girsu (1902)
• Paul Pelliot in Chinese Turkestan (1907–1909)
• Maurice Pézard in Northern Palestine (1923)
• Georges Aaron Bénédite in Egypt (1926)
• François Thureau-Dangin in Northern Syria (1929)
• Henri de Genouillac in Mesopotamia (1912, 1929)
• the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale in Cairo, created in 1880

The rest of the plaque combines donors of archaeological items, many of whom were archaeologists themselves, and other archaeologists whose excavations contributed to the Louvre’s collections:

• Frédéric Moreau [fr] in France (1899)
• Édouard Piette in France (1902)
• Joseph de Baye [fr] in France (1899–1906)
• Henri and Jacques de Morgan in Susa (1909–1910)
• Léon Henri-Martin [fr] (1906–1920) and his daughter Germaine in France (1976)
• Louis Capitan [fr] in France (1929)
• René de Saint-Périer [fr] and his wife Suzanne in France (1935)
• Fernand Bisson de la Roque in Egypt (1922–1950)
• Bernard Bruyère in Egypt (1920–1951)
• Raymond Weill in Egypt (1952)
• Pierre Montet in Egypt (1921–1956)
• Jean Marie Casal [de] in the Indus Valley and Afghanistan (1950–1973)
• Suzanne de Saint-Mathurin [fr] in France (1973)
• André Parrot in Mari, Syria (1931–1974)
• Claude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer in Ugarit, Syria (1929–1970)
• Roman Ghirshman in Iraq and Iran (1931–1972)

Satellites and offshoots

[edit]

Several museums in and outside France have been or are placed under the Louvre’s administrative authority or linked to it through exclusive partnerships, while not being located in the Louvre Palace. Since 2019, the Louvre has also maintained a large art storage and research facility in the Northern French town of Liévin, the Centre de conservation du Louvre [fr], which is not open to the public.^[147]

Musée de Cluny (1926–1977)

[edit]

Main article: Musée de Cluny

In February 1926, the Musée de Cluny, whose creation dates back to the 19th century, was brought under the aegis of the Louvre’s department of decorative arts (Objets d’Art).^[148] That affiliation was terminated in 1977.^[149]

Musée du Jeu de Paume (1947–1986)

[edit]

Main article: Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume

The Jeu de Paume building in the Tuileries Garden, initially intended as a sports venue, was repurposed from 1909 as an art gallery. In 1947, it became the exhibition space for the Louvre’s collections of late 19th and early 20th paintings, most prominently Impressionism, as the Louvre Palace was lacking space to display them, and was consequently brought under direct management by the Louvre’s Département des Peintures. In 1986, these collections were transferred to the newly created Musée d’Orsay.^[150]

Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon (since 1976)

[edit]

Main article: Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon

The Musée du Petit Palais opened in 1976 in the former urban mansion of the archbishops of Avignon, close to the Papal Palace in Avignon. An initiative led by Avignon Mayor Henri Duffaut [fr] and Louvre President-Director Michel Laclotte, part of its permanent collection is made of artworks from the Collection Campana [fr] deposited by the Louvre. On 2 April 2024, a new agreement between the City of Avignon and the Louvre allowed its rebranding as Musée du Petit Palais – Louvre en Avignon.^[151]

Gypsothèque du Louvre (since 2001)

[edit]

The gypsothèque (plaster cast gallery) of the Louvre is a collection of plaster casts that was formed in 1970 by the reunion of the corresponding inventories of the Louvre, the Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Art and Archaeology Institute of the Sorbonne University, the latter two following depredations during the May 68 student unrest. Initially called the Musée des Monuments Antiques from 1970 to 1978, the project was subsequently left unfinished and only came to fruition after being brought under the Louvre’s management by ministerial decision in 2001.^[152] It is located in the Petite Écurie, a dependency of Versailles Palace, and has been open to the public since 2012.^[153]

Musée Delacroix (since 2004)

[edit]

Main article: Musée national Eugène Delacroix

The small museum located in Eugène Delacroix‘s former workshop in central Paris, created in the 1930s, has been placed under management by the Louvre since 2004.^[154]

Louvre-Lens (since 2012)

[edit]

Main article: Louvre-Lens

The Louvre-Lens follows a May 2003 initiative by then culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon to promote cultural projects outside of Paris that would make the riches of major Parisian institutions available to a broader French public, including a satellite (antenne) of the Louvre.^[155] After several rounds of competition, a former mining site in the town of Lens was selected for its location and announced by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on 2004-11-29. Japanese architects SANAA and landscape architect Catherine Mosbach were respectively selected in September 2005 to design the museum building and garden. Inaugurated by President François Hollande on 2012-12-04, the Louvre-Lens is run by the Hauts-de-France region under a contract (convention scientifique et culturelle) with the Louvre for art loans and brand use. Its main attraction is an exhibition of roughly 200 artworks from the Louvre on a rotating basis, presented chronologically in a single large room (the Galerie du Temps or “gallery of time”) that transcends the geographical and object-type divisions along which the Parisian Louvre’s displays are organized. The Louvre-Lens has been successful at attracting around 500,000 visitors per year until the COVID-19 pandemic.^[156]

Louvre Abu Dhabi (since 2017)

[edit]

Main article: Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a separate entity from the Louvre, but the two entities have a multifaceted contractual relationship that allows the Emirati museum to use the Louvre name until 2037, and to exhibit artworks from the Louvre until 2027.^[157] It was inaugurated on 2017-11-08 and opened to the public three days later. A 30-year agreement, signed in early 2007 by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, establishes that Abu Dhabi shall pay €832,000,000 (US$1.3 billion) in exchange for the Louvre name use, managerial advice, art loans, and special exhibitions.^[158] The Louvre Abu Dhabi is located on Saadiyat Island and was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and engineering firm of Buro Happold.^[159] It occupies 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) and is covered by an iconic metallic dome designed to cast rays of light mimicking sunlight passing through date palm fronds in an oasis. The French art loans, expected to total between 200 and 300 artworks during a 10-year period, come from multiple museums, including the Louvre, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d’Orsay, Versailles, the Guimet Museum, the Musée Rodin, and the Musée du quai Branly.^[160]

Controversy

[edit]

The Louvre is involved in controversies that surround cultural property seized under Napoleon I, as well as during World War II by the Nazis.^[161][162] In the early 2010s, workers’ rights in the construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi were also a point of controversy for the museum.^[163]

Napoleonic looting

[edit]

Napoleon’s campaigns acquired Italian pieces by treaties, as war reparations, and Northern European pieces as spoils, as well as some antiquities excavated in Egypt, though the vast majority of the latter were seized as war reparations by the British army and are now part of collections of the British Museum. On the other hand, the Dendera zodiac is, like the Rosetta Stone, claimed by Egypt even though it was acquired in 1821, before the Egyptian Anti-export legislation of 1835. The Louvre administration has thus argued in favor of retaining this item despite requests by Egypt for its return. The museum participates too in arbitration sessions held via UNESCO‘s Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin.^[164] The museum consequently returned in 2009 five Egyptian fragments of frescoes (30 cm x 15 cm each) whose existence of the tomb of origin had only been brought to the authorities attention in 2008, eight to five years after their good-faith acquisition by the museum from two private collections and after the necessary respect of the procedure of déclassement from French public collections before the Commission scientifique nationale des collections des musées de France.^[165]

Nazi looting

[edit]

During Nazi occupation, thousands of artworks were stolen.^[166] But after the war, 61,233 articles of more than 150,000 seized artworks returned to France and were assigned to the Office des Biens Privés.^[167] In 1949, it entrusted 2,130 unclaimed pieces (including 1,001 paintings) to the Direction des Musées de France in order to keep them under appropriate conditions of conservation until their restitution and meanwhile classified them as MNRs (Musées Nationaux Recuperation or, in English, the National Museums of Recovered Artwork). Some 10% to 35% of the pieces are believed to come from Jewish spoliations^[168] and until the identification of their rightful owners, which declined at the end of the 1960s, they are registered indefinitely on separate inventories from the museum’s collections.^[169]

They were exhibited in 1946 and shown all together to the public during four years (1950–1954) in order to allow rightful claimants to identify their properties, then stored or displayed, according to their interest, in several French museums including the Louvre. From 1951 to 1965, about 37 pieces were restituted. Since November 1996, the partly illustrated catalogue of 1947–1949 has been accessible online and completed. In 1997, Prime Minister Alain Juppé initiated the Mattéoli Commission, headed by Jean Mattéoli, to investigate the matter and according to the government, the Louvre is in charge of 678 pieces of artwork still unclaimed by their rightful owners.^[170] During the late 1990s, the comparison of the American war archives, which had not been done before, with the French and German ones as well as two court cases which finally settled some of the heirs’ rights (Gentili di Giuseppe and Rosenberg families) allowed more accurate investigations. Since 1996, the restitutions, according sometimes to less formal criteria, concerned 47 more pieces (26 paintings, with 6 from the Louvre including a then displayed Tiepolo), until the last claims of French owners and their heirs ended again in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

According to Serge Klarsfeld, since the now complete and constant publicity which the artworks got in 1996, the majority of the French Jewish community is nevertheless in favour of the return to the normal French civil rule of prescription acquisitive of any unclaimed good after another long period of time and consequently to their ultimate integration into the common French heritage instead of their transfer to foreign institutions like during World War II.^{[citation needed]}

Construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi

[edit]

In 2011, over 130 international artists urged a boycott of the new Guggenheim museum as well as Louvre Abu Dhabi, citing reports, since 2009, of abuses of foreign construction workers on Saadiyat Island, including the arbitrary withholding of wages, unsafe working conditions, and failure of companies to pay or reimburse the steep recruitment fees being charged to laborers.^[171][172] According to Architectural Record, Abu Dhabi has comprehensive labor laws to protect the workers, but they are not conscientiously implemented or enforced.^[173] In 2010, the Guggenheim Foundation placed on its website a joint statement with Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) recognizing the following workers’ rights issues, among others: health and safety of the workers; their access to their passports and other documents that the employers have been retaining to guaranty that they stay on the job; using a general contractor that agrees to obey the labor laws; maintaining an independent site monitor; and ending the system that has been generally used in the Persian Gulf region of requiring workers to reimburse recruitment fees.^[174]

In 2013, The Observer reported that conditions for the workers at the Louvre and New York University construction sites on Saadiyat amounted to “modern-day slavery”.^[175][176] In 2014, the Guggenheim’s Director, Richard Armstrong, said that he believed that living conditions for the workers at the Louvre project were now good and that “many fewer” of them were having their passports confiscated. He stated that the main issue then remaining was the recruitment fees charged to workers by agents who recruit them.^[177][178] Later in 2014, the Guggenheim’s architect, Gehry, commented that working with the Abu Dhabi officials to implement the law to improve the labor conditions at the museum’s site is “a moral responsibility.”^[173] He encouraged the TDIC to build additional worker housing and proposed that the contractor cover the cost of the recruitment fees. In 2012, TDIC engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers as an independent monitor required to issue reports every quarter. Labor lawyer Scott Horton told Architectural Record that he hoped the Guggenheim project will influence the treatment of workers on other Saadiyat sites and will “serve as a model for doing things right.

A hamburger, or simply a burger, is a dish consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis with condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish or a “special sauce”, often a variation of Thousand Island dressing, and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.^[1] Under some definitions, and in some cultures, a burger is considered a sandwich.

Hamburgers are typically associated with fast-food restaurants and diners but are also sold at other restaurants, including high-end establishments. There are many international and regional variations of hamburgers. Some of the largest multinational fast-food chains feature burgers as one of their core products: McDonald’s Big Mac and Burger King’s Whopper have become global icons of American culture.^[2][3]

Etymology and terminology

The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany; however, there is no specific connection between the dish and the city.^[4]

By linguistic rebracketing, the term “burger” eventually became a self-standing word that is associated with many different types of sandwiches that are similar to a hamburger, but contain different meats such as buffalo in the buffalo burger, venison, kangaroo, chicken, turkey, elk, lamb or fish such as salmon in the salmon burger, and even with meatless sandwiches as is the case of the veggie burger.^[5]

The term burger can also be applied to a meat patty on its own. Since the term hamburger usually implies beef, for clarity burger may be prefixed with the type of meat or meat substitute used, as in beef burger, turkey burger, bison burger, or portobello burger. In most English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, a piece of chicken breast in a bun is a chicken burger. Americans would call this a chicken sandwich because the meat is not ground, whereas in other countries, anything with a bun is considered a burger and a sandwich has sliced bread.^[6][7][8]

History

Main articles: History of the hamburger and History of the hamburger in the United States

Versions of the meal have been served for over a century, but its origins are still unclear.^[9] The 1758 edition of the book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse included a recipe called “Hamburgh sausage”, suggesting that it should be served “roasted with toasted bread under it.” A similar snack was also popular in Hamburg under the name of “Rundstück warm” (“bread roll warm”) in 1869 or earlier,^[10] and was supposedly eaten by emigrants on their way to America. However, this may have contained roasted beefsteak rather than Frikadelle. It has alternatively been suggested that Hamburg steak served between two pieces of bread and eaten by Jewish passengers travelling from Hamburg to New York on Hamburg America Line vessels (which began operations in 1847) became so well known that the shipping company gave its name to the dish.^[11] It is not known which of these stories actually marks the invention of the hamburger and explains the name.

There is a reference to a “Hamburg steak” as early as 1884 in The Boston Journal.^{[OED, under “steak”]} On July 5, 1896, the Chicago Daily Tribune made a highly specific claim regarding a “hamburger sandwich” in an article about a “Sandwich Car”: “A distinguished favorite, only five cents, is Hamburger steak sandwich, the meat for which is kept ready in small patties and ‘cooked while you wait’ on the gasoline range.”^[12]

Claims of invention

The hamburger’s origin is unclear, though “hamburger steak sandwiches” have been advertised in U.S. newspapers from New York to Hawaii since at least the 1890s.^[13] The invention of hamburgers is commonly attributed to various people, including Charlie Nagreen, Frank and Charles Menches, Oscar Weber Bilby, Fletcher Davis, or Louis Lassen.^[14][15] White Castle traces the origin of the hamburger to Hamburg, Germany, with its invention by Otto Krause.^[16] Some have pointed to a recipe for “Hamburgh sausages” on toasted bread, published in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse in 1758.^[13] Hamburgers gained national recognition in the U.S. at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair when the New York Tribune referred to the hamburger as “the innovation of a food vendor on the pike.”^[15] No conclusive argument has ended the dispute over invention. An article from ABC News sums up: “One problem is that there is little written history. Another issue is that the burger spread happened largely at the World’s Fair, from tiny vendors that came and went instantly. And it is entirely possible that more than one person came up with the idea at the same time in different parts of the country.”^[17]

Louis Lassen

Although debunked by The Washington Post,^[13] a popular myth recorded by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro stated the first hamburger served in America was by Louis Lassen, a Danish immigrant, after he opened Louis’ Lunch in New Haven in 1895.^[18] Louis’ Lunch, a small lunch wagon in New Haven, Connecticut, is said to have sold the first hamburger and steak sandwich in the U.S. in 1900.^[19][20][21] New York Magazine states that “The dish actually had no name until some rowdy sailors from Hamburg named the meat on a bun after themselves years later”, also noting that this claim is subject to dispute.^[22] A customer ordered a quick hot meal and Louis was out of steaks. Taking ground beef trimmings, Louis made a patty and grilled it, putting it between two slices of toast.^[15] Some critics such as Josh Ozersky, a food editor for New York Magazine, claim that this sandwich was not a hamburger because the bread was toasted.^[23]

Charlie Nagreen

One of the earliest claims comes from Charlie Nagreen, who in 1885 sold a meatball between two slices of bread at the Seymour Fair^[24] now sometimes called the Outagamie County Fair.^[23] The Seymour Community Historical Society of Seymour, Wisconsin, credits Nagreen, now known as “Hamburger Charlie”, with the invention. Nagreen was 15 when he reportedly sold pork sandwiches at the 1885 Seymour Fair so customers could eat while walking. The Historical Society explains that Nagreen named the hamburger after the Hamburg steak with which local German immigrants were familiar.^[25][26]

Otto Krause

According to White Castle, Otto Krause was the inventor of the hamburger. In 1891, he created a beef patty cooked in butter and topped with a fried egg. German sailors later omitted the fried egg.^[15]

Oscar Weber Bilby

The family of Oscar Weber Bilby claims the first-known hamburger on a bun was served on July 4, 1891, on Grandpa Oscar’s farm. The bun was a yeast bun.^[27][28][29] In 1995, Governor Frank Keating proclaimed that the first true hamburger on a bun was created and consumed in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1891, calling Tulsa, “The Real Birthplace of the Hamburger”.^[30]

Frank and Charles Menches

Frank and Charles Menches claim to have sold a ground beef sandwich at the Erie County Fair in 1885 in Hamburg, New York.^[23] During the fair, they ran out of pork sausage for their sandwiches and substituted beef.^[24] The brothers exhausted their supply of sausage, so they purchased chopped-up beef from a butcher, Andrew Klein. Historian Joseph Streamer wrote that the meat was from Stein’s market, not Klein’s, despite Stein’s having sold the market in 1874.^[24] The story notes that the name of the hamburger comes from Hamburg, New York, not Hamburg, Germany.^[24] Frank Menches’s obituary in The New York Times states that these events took place at the 1892 Summit County Fair in Akron, Ohio.^[31]

Fletcher Davis

Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas claimed to have invented the hamburger. According to oral histories, in the 1880s, he opened a lunch counter in Athens and served a ‘burger’ of fried ground beef patties with mustard and Bermuda onion between two slices of bread, with a pickle on the side.^[15] The story is that in 1904, Davis and his wife Ciddy ran a sandwich stand at the St. Louis World’s Fair.^[15] Historian Frank X. Tolbert noted that Athens resident Clint Murchison said his grandfather dated the hamburger to the 1880s with Fletcher “Old Dave” Davis.^[24] A photo of “Old Dave’s Hamburger Stand” from 1904 was sent to Tolbert as evidence of the claim.^[24]

Other hamburger-steak claims

Various non-specific claims of the invention relate to the term “hamburger steak” without mention of its being a sandwich. The first printed American menu listing hamburgers is an 1834 menu from Delmonico’s in New York.^[32] However, the printer of the original menu was not in business in 1834.^[29] In 1889, a menu from Walla Walla Union in Washington offered hamburger steak as a menu item.^[15]

Between 1871 and 1884, “Hamburg Beefsteak” was on the “Breakfast and Supper Menu” of the Clipper Restaurant at 311/313 Pacific Street in San Fernando, California. It cost 10 cents—the same price as mutton chops, pig’s feet in batter, and stewed veal. It was not, however, on the dinner menu. Only “Pig’s Head”, “Calf Tongue”, and “Stewed Kidneys” were listed.^[33] Another claim ties the hamburger to Summit County, New York, or Ohio. Summit County, Ohio, exists, but Summit County, New York, does not.^[24]

Early major vendors

See also: History of White Castle and History of McDonald’s

• 1921: White Castle, Wichita, Kansas. Due to books by Upton Sinclair and Arthur Kallet discrediting the cleanliness and nutritional value of ground beef, hamburger meat was unpopular with families until the White Castle restaurant chain took it upon themselves to market the cleanliness and quality of their food through scientific studies and preparing the food in full view of customers with spotlessly clean buildings. They also reported in local newspapers how they carefully selected their meat, and opened the “Food Experiment Department” as a test kitchen and quality-control laboratory.^[34] They marketed and sold large numbers of small 65 mm (2+¹⁄₂ in) square hamburger sandwiches, known as sliders and created five holes in each patty, which helped them cook evenly and eliminated the need to flip the burger. In 1995, White Castle began selling frozen hamburgers in convenience stores and vending machines.^[35]
• 1923: Kewpee Hamburgers, or Kewpee Hotels, Flint, Michigan. Kewpee was the second hamburger chain and peaked at 400 locations before World War II. Many of these were licensed but not strictly franchised. Many closed during WWII. Between 1955 and 1967, another wave of restaurants closed or changed names. In 1967, the Kewpee licensor moved the company to a franchise system. Currently, only five locations exist.
• 1926: White Tower Hamburgers
• 1927: Little Tavern
• 1932: Krystal^[36]
• 1936: Big Boy. In 1937, Bob Wian created the double-deck hamburger at his stand in Glendale, California. Big Boy would become the name of the hamburger, mascot, and restaurant. Big Boy expanded nationally through regional franchising and subfranchising. Primarily operating as drive-in restaurants in the 1950s, interior dining gradually replaced curb service by the early 1970s. Many franchises have closed or operated independently, but the Big Boy double-deck hamburger remains the signature item at the remaining American restaurants.
• 1940: McDonald’s restaurant, San Bernardino, California, was opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald. Their introduction of the “Speedee Service System” in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The McDonald brothers began franchising in 1953. In 1961, Ray Kroc (the supplier of their multi-mixer milkshake machines) purchased the company from the brothers for $2.7 million and a 1.9% royalty.^[37]

In the United States

Hamburgers are often a feature of fast food restaurants. In the United States, the hamburger patties served by major fast food chains are usually mass-produced in factories and frozen for delivery to the site.^[38] These hamburgers are thin and of uniform thickness, differing from the traditional American hamburger prepared in homes and conventional restaurants, which is thicker and prepared by hand from ground beef. Most American hamburgers are round, but some fast-food chains, such as Wendy’s, sell square-cut hamburgers. Hamburgers in fast food restaurants are usually grilled on a flat top, but some firms, such as Burger King, use a gas flame grilling process. At conventional American restaurants, hamburgers may be ordered “rare” but normally are served medium-well or well-done for food safety reasons. Fast food restaurants do not usually offer this option.

The McDonald’s fast-food chain sells the Big Mac, one of the world’s top-selling hamburgers, with an estimated 550 million sold annually in the United States.^[39] Other major fast-food chains, including Burger King (also known as Hungry Jack’s in Australia), A&W, Culver’s, Whataburger, Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s chain, Wendy’s (known for their square patties), Jack in the Box, Krystal, White Castle, Cook Out, Harvey’s, Hesburger, Supermac’s, Shake Shack, In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Fatburger, Vera’s, Burgerville, Back Yard Burgers, Lick’s Homeburger, Roy Rogers, Smashburger, and Sonic also rely heavily on hamburger sales. Fuddruckers and Red Robin are hamburger chains that specialize in the mid-tier “restaurant-style” variety of hamburgers.

Some restaurants offer elaborate hamburgers using expensive cuts of meat and various cheeses, toppings, and sauces. One example is the Bobby’s Burger Palace chain founded by well-known chef and Food Network star Bobby Flay.

Hamburgers are often served as a fast dinner, picnic, or party food and are often cooked outdoors on barbecue grills.

A high-quality hamburger patty is made entirely of ground (minced) beef and seasonings; these may be described as “all-beef hamburger” or “all-beef patties” to distinguish them from inexpensive hamburgers made with cost-savers like added flour, textured vegetable protein, ammonia treated defatted beef trimmings (which the company Beef Products Inc, calls “lean finely textured beef”),^[40][41] advanced meat recovery, or other fillers. In the 1930s, ground liver was sometimes added. Some cooks prepare their patties with binders like eggs or breadcrumbs. Seasonings may include salt and pepper and others like parsley, onions, soy sauce, Thousand Island dressing, onion soup mix, or Worcestershire sauce. Many name-brand seasoned salt products are also used.

Cost

According to Bloomberg News, the average price of a fast-food restaurant burger in the United States increased by 16% between 2019 and 2024, reaching $8.41 in the second quarter of 2024. Specifically, the iconic Big Mac at McDonald’s cost $5.29 during the same period, representing a 21% price increase over the same five-year span.^[42]

Safety

Raw hamburgers may contain harmful bacteria that can produce food-borne illnesses such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, due to the occasional initial improper preparation of the meat, so caution is needed during handling and cooking. Because of the potential for food-borne illness, the USDA, recommends hamburgers be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71 °C).^[43] If cooked to this temperature, they are considered well-done.^[44]

Variations

See also: List of hamburgers

Other meats

Burgers can also be made with patties made from ingredients other than beef.^[45] For example, a turkey burger uses ground turkey meat, a chicken burger uses ground chicken meat. A buffalo burger uses ground meat from a bison, and an ostrich burger is made from ground seasoned ostrich meat. A deer burger uses ground venison from deer.^[46]

Veggie burgers

Main article: Veggie burger

Vegetarian and vegan burgers can be formed from a meat analogue, a meat substitute such as tofu, TVP, seitan (wheat gluten), quorn, beans, grains or an assortment of vegetables, ground up and mashed into patties.

Vegetable patties have existed in various Eurasian cuisines for millennia and are a commonplace item in Indian cuisine.

In the 1900s, some companies began making soy-based burgers, including the Boca Burger and Lightlife. Other producers entered business with new burgers in the 2000s, including Gardein, Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, and Meati. These products are primarily made of peas, soy, mushrooms, yeast, beans, and/or nuts.

Steak burgers

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In the United States, a steak burger is a marketing term for a hamburger claimed to be of superior quality.^[47][48][49] Elsewhere, it is a burger containing a steak.

Use of the term “steakburger” dates to the 1920s in the United States.^[50] In the U.S. in 1934, A.H. “Gus” Belt, the founder of Steak ‘n Shake, devised a higher-quality hamburger and offered it as a “steakburger” to customers at the company’s first location in Normal, Illinois.^[51] This burger used a combination of ground meat from the strip portion of T-bone steak and sirloin steak in its preparation.^[51] Steakburgers are a primary menu item at Steak ‘n Shake restaurants,^[51] and the company’s registered trademarks included “original steakburger” and “famous for steakburgers”.^[52] Steak ‘n Shake’s “Prime Steakburgers” are now made of choice grade brisket and chuck.^[53]

Beef is typical, although other meats such as lamb and pork may also be used.^[54] The meat is ground^[55] or chopped.^[56]

In other places – including Australia and New Zealand – a steak burger contains a whole steak, not ground meat.^[57]

Steak burgers may be cooked to various degrees of doneness.^[58]

Steakburgers may be served with standard hamburger toppings such as lettuce, onion, and tomato.^[58] Some may have various additional toppings such as cheese,^[58] bacon, fried egg, mushrooms,^[59] additional meats,^[60] and others.

Various fast food outlets and restaurants ‍—‌ such as Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, IHOP, Steak ‘n Shake, Mr. Steak, and Freddy’s ‍—‌ market steak burgers.^{[50][52][61][62][63]} Some restaurants offer high-end burgers prepared from aged beef.^[64] Additionally, many restaurants have used the term “steakburger” at various times.^[62]

Some baseball parks concessions in the United States call their hamburgers steak burgers, such as Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.^[65]

Burger King introduced the Sirloin Steak sandwich in 1979 as part of a menu expansion that, in turn, was part of a corporate restructuring effort for the company.^[50] It was a single oblong patty made of chopped steak served on a sub-style sesame seed roll.^[66][67] Additional steak burgers that Burger King has offered are the Angus Bacon Cheddar Ranch Steak Burger, the Angus Bacon & Cheese Steak Burger, and a limited edition Stuffed Steakhouse Burger.^[50]

In 2004, Steak ‘n Shake sued Burger King over the latter’s use of the term Steak Burger in conjunction with one of its menu items, claiming that such use infringed on trademark rights.^[68][69] (According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Burger King’s attorneys “grilled” Steak ‘n Shake’s CEO in court about the precise content of Steak ‘n Shake’s steakburger offering.)^[68] The case was settled out of court.^[70]

United States and Canada

See also: Cheeseburger, Chili burger, and History of the hamburger in the United States

The hamburger is considered a national dish of the United States.^[71] In the United States and Canada, burgers may be classified as two main types: fast food hamburgers and individually prepared burgers made in homes and restaurants. The latter are often prepared with a variety of toppings, including lettuce, tomato, onion, and often sliced pickles (or pickle relish). French fries (or commonly Poutine in Canada) often accompany the burger. Cheese (usually processed cheese slices but often Cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack, or blue), either melted directly on the meat patty or crumbled on top, is generally an option.

Condiments might be added to a hamburger or may be offered separately on the side, including ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, salad dressings and barbecue sauce. Other toppings can include bacon, avocado or guacamole, sliced sautéed mushrooms, cheese sauce, chili (usually without beans), fried egg, scrambled egg, feta cheese, blue cheese, salsa, pineapple, jalapeños and other kinds of chili peppers, anchovies, slices of ham or bologna, pastrami or teriyaki-seasoned beef, tartar sauce, french fries, onion rings or potato chips.

• Standard hamburger toppings may depend on location, particularly at restaurants that are not national or regional franchises.
• Restaurants may offer hamburgers with multiple meat patties. The most common variants are double and triple hamburgers, but California-based burger chain In-N-Out once sold a sandwich with one hundred patties, called a “100×100”.^[72]
• Pastrami burgers may be served in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[73]
• A patty melt consists of a patty, sautéed onions and cheese between two slices of rye bread. The sandwich is then buttered and fried.
• A slider is a tiny square hamburger patty served on an equally small bun and usually sprinkled with diced onions. According to the earliest citations, the name originated aboard U.S. Navy ships due to how greasy burgers slid across the galley grill as the ship pitched and rolled.^[74][75] Other versions claim the term “slider” originated from the hamburgers served by flight line galleys at military airfields, which were so greasy they slid right through one, or because their small size allowed them to “slide” right down the throat in one or two bites.
• In Alberta, Canada, a “kubie burger” is a hamburger made with a pressed Ukrainian sausage (kubasa).^[76]
• A butter burger, found commonly throughout Wisconsin and the upper midwest, is a normal burger with a pad of butter as a topping or a heavily buttered bun. It is the signature menu item of the restaurant chain Culver’s.^[77]
• The Fat Boy is an iconic hamburger with chili meat sauce originating in the Greek burger restaurants of Winnipeg, Manitoba^[78]
• In Minnesota, a “Juicy Lucy” (also spelled “Jucy Lucy”), is a hamburger having cheese inside the meat patty rather than on top. A piece of cheese is surrounded by raw meat and cooked until it melts, resulting in a molten core within the patty. This scalding hot cheese tends to gush out at the first bite, so servers frequently instruct customers to let the sandwich cool for a few minutes before consumption.
• A low-carb burger is a hamburger served without a bun and replaced with large slices of lettuce, with mayonnaise or mustard being the sauces primarily used.^[79][80][81]
• A ramen burger, invented by Keizo Shimamoto, is a hamburger patty sandwiched between two discs of compressed ramen noodles in lieu of a traditional bun.^[82]
• Luther Burger is a bacon cheeseburger with two glazed doughnuts instead of buns.^[77]
• Steamed cheeseburger is a cheeseburger in which the burger is steamed instead of grilled. It was invented in Connecticut.^[77]

France

In 2012, according to a study by the NDP cabinet, the French consume 14 hamburgers in restaurants per year per person, placing them fourth in the world and second in Europe, just behind the British.^[83]

According to a study by Gira Conseil on the consumption of hamburgers in France in 2013, 75% of traditional French restaurants offer at least one hamburger on their menu, and for a third of these restaurants, it has become the leader in the range of dishes, ahead of rib steaks, grills or fish.^[84]

Mexico

In Mexico, burgers (called hamburguesas) are served with ham^[85] and slices of American cheese fried on top of the meat patty. The toppings include avocado, jalapeño slices, shredded lettuce, onion, and tomato. The bun has mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. Bacon may also be added, which can be fried or grilled along with the meat patty. A slice of pineapple may be added to a hamburger for a “Hawaiian hamburger”.

Some restaurants’ burgers also have barbecue sauce, and others replace the ground patty with sirloin, Al pastor meat, barbacoa, or fried chicken breast. Many burger chains from the United States can be found all over Mexico, including Carl’s Jr., Sonic, McDonald’s, and Burger King.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Hamburgers in the UK and Ireland are very similar to those in the US, and the same big two chains dominate the High Street as in the U.S. — McDonald’s and Burger King. The menus offered to both countries are virtually identical, although portion sizes tend to be smaller in the UK. In Ireland, the food outlet Supermacs is widespread throughout the country, serving burgers as part of its menu. In Ireland, Abrakebabra (started out selling kebabs) and Eddie Rocket’s are also major chains.

An original and indigenous rival to the big two U.S. giants was the quintessentially British fast-food chain Wimpy, originally known as Wimpy Bar (opened 1954 at the Lyon’s Corner House in Coventry Street London), which served its hamburgers on a plate with British-style chips, accompanied by cutlery and delivered to the customer’s table. In the late 1970s, to compete with McDonald’s,^[86] Wimpy began to open American-style counter-service restaurants, and the brand disappeared from many UK high streets when those restaurants were re-branded as Burger Kings between 1989 and 1990 by the then-owner of both brands, Grand Metropolitan. A management buyout in 1990 split the brands again, and now Wimpy table-service restaurants can still be found in many town centres, whilst new counter-service Wimpys are now often found at motorway service stations.

Hamburgers are also available from mobile kiosks, commonly known as “burger vans”, particularly at outdoor events such as football matches. Burgers from this type of outlet are usually served without any form of salad — only fried onions and a choice of tomato ketchup, mustard, or brown sauce.

Chip shops, particularly in the West Midlands and North-East of England, Scotland, and Ireland, serve battered hamburgers called batter burgers. This is where the burger patty is deep-fat-fried in batter and is usually served with chips.

Hamburgers and veggie burgers served with chips, and salad is standard pub grub menu items. Many pubs specialize in “gourmet” burgers. These are usually high-quality minced steak patties topped with things such as blue cheese, brie, avocado, anchovy mayonnaise, et cetera. Some British pubs serve burger patties made from more exotic meats, including venison burgers (sometimes nicknamed Bambi Burgers), bison burgers, ostrich burgers, and in some Australian-themed pubs even kangaroo burgers can be purchased. These burgers are served similarly to the traditional hamburger but are sometimes served with a different sauce, including redcurrant sauce, mint sauce, and plum sauce.

In the early 21st century, “premium” hamburger chains and independent restaurants have arisen, selling burgers produced from meat stated to be of high quality and often organic, usually served to eat on the premises rather than to take away.^[87] Chains include Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Ultimate Burger, Hamburger Union and Byron Hamburgers in London. Independent restaurants such as Meatmarket and Dirty Burger developed a style of rich, juicy burger in 2012 which is known as a dirty burger or third-wave burger.^[88]

In recent years Rustlers has sold pre-cooked hamburgers reheatable in a microwave oven in the United Kingdom.^[89]

In the UK, as in North America and Japan, the term “burger” can refer simply to the patty, be it beef, some other kind of meat, or vegetarian.

Australia and New Zealand

Fast food franchises sell American-style fast-food hamburgers in Australia and New Zealand. The traditional Australasian hamburgers are usually bought from fish and chip shops or milk bars rather than from chain restaurants. These traditional hamburgers are becoming less common as older-style fast food outlets decrease in number. The hamburger meat is almost always ground beef, or “mince”, as it is more commonly referred to in Australia and New Zealand. They commonly include tomato, lettuce, grilled onion, and meat as minimum—in this form, known in Australia as a “plain hamburger”, which often also includes a slice of beetroot—and, optionally, can include cheese, beetroot, pineapple, a fried egg, and bacon. If all these optional ingredients are included, it is known in Australia as a “burger with the lot”.^[90][91]

In Australia and New Zealand, as in the United Kingdom, the word sandwich is generally reserved for two slices of bread (from a loaf) with fillings in between them – unlike in American English where a sandwich is fillings between two pieces of any kind of bread, not only slices of bread – as such burgers are not generally considered to be sandwiches.^[6] The term burger is applied to any cut bun with a hot filling, even when the filling does not contain beef, such as a chicken burger (generally with chicken breast rather than chicken mince), salmon burger, pulled pork burger, veggie burger, etc.

The only variance between the two countries’ hamburgers is that New Zealand’s equivalent to “The Lot” often contains a steak (beef). The condiments regularly used are barbecue sauce and tomato sauce. The traditional Australasian hamburger never includes mayonnaise. The McDonald’s “McOz” Burger is partway between American and Australian style burgers, having beetroot and tomato in an otherwise typical American burger; however, it is no longer a part of the menu. Likewise, McDonald’s in New Zealand created a Kiwiburger, similar to a Quarter Pounder, but features salad, beetroot, and a fried egg. The Hungry Jack’s (Burger King) “Aussie Burger” has tomato, lettuce, onion, cheese, bacon, beetroot, egg, ketchup, and a meat patty, while adding pineapple is an upcharge. It is essentially a “Burger with the lot” but uses the standard HJ circular breakfast Egg rather than the fully fried egg used by local fish shops.^[92]

China

In China, due to the branding of their sandwiches by McDonald’s and KFC restaurants in China, the word “burger” (汉堡) refers to all sandwiches that consist of two pieces of bun and a meat patty in between. This has led to confusion when Chinese nationals try to order sandwiches with meat fillings other than beef in fast-food restaurants in North America.^[93]

A popular Chinese street food, known as roujiamo (肉夹馍), consists of meat (most commonly pork) sandwiched between two buns. Roujiamo has been called the “Chinese hamburger”.^[94] Since the sandwich dates back to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and fits the aforementioned Chinese word for burger, Chinese media have claimed that the hamburger was invented in China.^[95][96][93]

Japan

In Japan, hamburgers can be served in a bun, called hanbāgā (ハンバーガー), or just the patties served without a bun, known as hanbāgu (ハンバーグ) or “hamburg”, short for “hamburg steak”.

Hamburg steaks (served without buns) are similar to what are known as Salisbury steaks in the US. They are made from minced beef, pork, or a blend of the two mixed with minced onions, eggs, breadcrumbs, and spices. They are served with brown sauce (or demi-glace in restaurants) with vegetable or salad sides, or occasionally in Japanese curries. Hamburgers may be served in casual, western-style suburban restaurant chains known in Japan as “family restaurants“.

On the other hand, Hamburgers in buns are predominantly the domain of fast food chains. Japan has homegrown hamburger chain restaurants such as MOS Burger, First Kitchen, and Freshness Burger. Local varieties of burgers served in Japan include teriyaki burgers, katsu burgers (containing tonkatsu) and burgers containing shrimp korokke. Some of the more unusual examples include the rice burger, where the bun is made of rice, and the luxury 1,000-yen (US$10) “Takumi Burger” (meaning “artisan taste”), featuring avocados, freshly grated wasabi, and other rare seasonal ingredients. In terms of the actual patty, there are burgers made with Kobe beef, butchered from cows that are fed with beer and massaged daily. McDonald’s Japan also recently^[when?] launched a McPork burger made with US pork. McDonald’s has been gradually losing market share in Japan to these local hamburger chains due partly to the preference of Japanese diners for fresh ingredients and more refined, “upscale” hamburger offerings.^[97] Burger King once retreated from Japan, but re-entered the market in summer 2007 in cooperation with the Korean-owned Japanese fast-food chain Lotteria.^{[citation needed]}

Denmark

In Denmark, the hamburger was introduced in 1949, though it was called the bøfsandwich. There are many variations. While the original bøfsandwich was simply a generic meat patty containing a mix of beef and horse meat, with slightly different garnish (mustard, ketchup, and soft onions), it has continued to evolve. Today, a bøfsandwich usually contains a beef patty, pickled cucumber, raw, pickled, fried or soft onions, pickled red beets, mustard, ketchup, remoulade, and perhaps most strikingly, is often overflowing with brown gravy, which is sometimes even poured on top of the assembled bøfsandwich. The original bøfsandwich is still on the menu at the same restaurant from which it originated in 1949, now run by the original owner’s grandson.^[98]

Following the popularity of the bøfsandwich, many variations sprung up, using different types of meat instead of the beef patty. One variation, the flæskestegssandwich, grew especially popular. This variation replaces the minced beef patty with slices of pork loin or belly and typically uses sweet-and-sour pickled red cabbage, mayonnaise, mustard, and pork rinds as garnish.^[99]

Today, the bøfsandwich, flæskestegssandwich, and their many variations co-exist with the more typical hamburger, with the opening of the first Burger King restaurant in 1977 popularizing the original dish in Denmark. Many local, high-end burger restaurants dot the major cities, including Popl, an offshoot of Noma.

East Asia

Rice burgers mentioned above are also available in several East Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. Lotteria is a big hamburger franchise in Japan owned by the South Korean Lotte group, with outlets also in China, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. In addition to selling beef hamburgers, they have hamburgers made from squid, pork, tofu, and shrimp. Variations available in South Korea include Bulgogi burgers and Kimchi burgers.

In the Philippines, a wide range of major U.S. fast-food franchises are well represented, together with local imitators, often amended to the local palate. The chain McDonald’s (locally nicknamed “McDo”) has a range of burger and chicken dishes often accompanied by plain steamed rice or French fries. The Philippines boasts its own burger chain called Jollibee, which offers burger meals and chicken, including a signature burger called “Champ”. Jollibee now has several outlets in the United States, the Middle East, and East Asia.

India

In India, burgers are usually made from chicken or vegetable patties due to cultural beliefs against eating beef (which stem from Hindu religious practice) and pork (which stems from Islamic religious practice). Because of this, most fast food chains and restaurants in India do not serve beef. McDonald’s in India, for instance, does not serve beef, offering the “Maharaja Mac” instead of the Big Mac, substituting the beef patties with chicken. Another version of the Indian vegetarian burger is the wada pav, consisting of a deep-fried potato patty dipped in gram flour batter. It is usually served with mint chutney and fried green chili. Another alternative is the “Buff Burger”, made with buffalo meat.^[100]

Pakistan

In Pakistan, apart from American fast food chains, burgers can be found in stalls near shopping areas, the best known being the “shami burger”. This is made from “shami kebab”, made by mixing lentils and minced lamb.^[101] Onions, scrambled eggs, and ketchup are the most popular toppings.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, there are 300 McDonald’s restaurants. The menu in Malaysia also includes eggs and fried chicken on top of regular burgers. Burgers are also easily found at nearby mobile kiosks, especially Ramly Burger.

Mongolia

In Mongolia, a recent fast food craze due to the sudden influx of foreign influence has led to the prominence of the hamburger. Specialized fast food restaurants serving to Mongolian tastes have sprung up and seen great success.

Turkey

In Turkey, in addition to the internationally familiar offerings, numerous localized variants of the hamburger may be found, such as the Islak Burger (lit. “Wet-Burger”), which is a beef slider doused in seasoned tomato sauce and steamed inside a special glass chamber, and has its origins in the Turkish fast food retailer Kizilkayalar. Other variations include lamb burgers and offal-burgers, which are offered by local fast food businesses and global chains alike, such as McDonald’s and Burger King. Most burger shops have also adopted a pizzeria-like approach to home delivery, and almost all major fast food chains deliver.

Yugoslavia and Serbia

In the former Yugoslavia, and originally in Serbia, there is a local version of the hamburger known as the pljeskavica. It is often served as a patty but may also have a bun.

Belgium and Netherlands

Throughout Belgium and in some eateries in the Netherlands, a Bicky Burger is sold that combines pork, chicken, and horse meat.^[102][103] The hamburger, usually fried, is served between a bun, sprinkled with sesame seeds. It often comes with a specific Bickysaus (Bicky dressing) made with mayonnaise, mustard, cabbage, and onion.^[102]

Unusual hamburgers

• In May 2012, Serendipity 3 was recognized as the Guinness World Records holder for serving the world’s most expensive hamburger, the $295 Le Burger Extravagant.^[104]
• At $499, the world’s largest hamburger commercially available weighs 185.8 pounds (84.3 kg) and is sold at Mallie’s Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Michigan. Called the “Absolutely Ridiculous Burger”, it takes about 12 hours to prepare. It was cooked and adjudicated on May 30, 2009.^[105]
• A $777 Kobe beef and Maine lobster burger, topped with caramelized onion, Brie cheese, and prosciutto, was reported available at Le Burger Brasserie, inside the Paris Las Vegas casino.^[106]
• On August 5, 2013, the first hamburger from a meat lab grown from cow stem cells was served. The hamburger was the result of research in the Netherlands led by Mark Post at Maastricht University and sponsored by Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin.^[107]

Slang

• “$100 hamburger” (“hundred-dollar hamburger”) is aviation slang for a general aviation pilot needing an excuse to fly. A $100 hamburger trip typically involves flying a short distance (less than two hours), eating at an airport restaurant, and flying home.