Louvre Museum's Denon gallery damaged by water leak, Mona Lisa unaffected


A view shows the Porte des Lions, the new public entrance to the renovated Denon wing (Aile Denon) at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - ⁠The Louvre museum's Denon gallery, where ⁠its most valuable paintings are displayed, was ‌hit by a water leak on Thursday evening, though the area of the famous Da Vinci's Mona Lisa ​was unaffected, a union representative ⁠told Reuters on ⁠Friday.

"Due to a technical failure on the upper ⁠floor ‌during the night, the area is closed to the public and a ⁠scaffolding has been set up," the representative ​said.

A ‌spokesperson for the museum had no immediate ⁠comment on ​the incident.

The leak happened in the room 707, where paintings from 19th century French artist ⁠Charles Meynier and 16th century Italian ​artist Bernardino Luini are displayed. No evaluation of possible damage was available as of Friday ⁠at noon, the union representative said.

The water leak is the second in less than three months in a museum that has gone ​through a spate of recent ⁠setbacks - including a spectacular jewel heist, strikes ​and a massive ticket fraud ‌investigation- that have put ​its management under intense scrutiny.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)

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