Louvre launches new fundraising campaign: €800,000 sought to restore the Cour du Sphinx

The Louvre Museum in Paris on Thursday (1 October 2026) launched its new fundraising campaign “Tous mécènes!” (Everyone a patron!), with a first public appeal seeking €800,000 (around $900,000) to restore the Cour du Sphinx, the popular inner courtyard in the Denon wing — where the Mona Lisa is also located, as AFP reports.

The courtyard is planned to be transformed into a quiet space for rest during a visit: the 1934 glass roof will be replaced, walls damaged by water penetration will be restored, and a new floor will be laid.

The museum is calling on visitors to propose a new name for the space: the current name comes from the Sphinx of Tanis, the ancient Egyptian statue exhibited there from 1826 to 1848.

The appeal comes at a critical moment for the institution. The new director, Christophe Leribault, who took office after the embarrassing October 2025 theft — when eight French crown jewels worth around $100 million were stolen — and the resignation of his predecessor, Laurence des Cars, has presented the giant “Louvre New Renaissance” transformation plan with a budget of over €1 billion.

With the French government under pressure to cut public spending, Leribault has said he will seek about a third of the sum, around €330 million, from private sources, while promising to build a “culture of security” at the museum. According to AFP, funds are already being raised through the Amis du Louvre and American Friends of the Louvre associations, while the annual gala held during Paris Fashion Week raised €1.6 million in 2026.