Louvre Museum Announces Exhibit on "Olympism" Ahead of Paris Olympics
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Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Louvre Museum has announced a new exhibit focusing on the history of the Olympics. "Olympism: Modern Invention, Ancient Legacy"opens April 24, and will follow the founding of the Games, and how the sporting event's organizers sought to channel ancient Greece.
Per the Louvre, "The exhibition firstly seeks to tell the unknown story of the creation of the modern Olympic Games and to highlight the role played by France, and Paris in particular." Many may know Pierre de Coubertin as the father of the modern Olympics, but "Olympism" will also spotlight lesser-known figures, like Dimitrios Vikelas, Michel Bréal and Spyridon Lambros.
A highlight of the show will be the first Olympic Cup, known as "Bréal's Cup," designed by French academic Michel Bréal and given to the winner of the first marathon. The cup is on a special loan from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Other items on display will include ephemera from the first Olympic games, held in Athens in 1896. Per the Louvre, "as part of the programme of cultural events accompanying the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, the exhibition will show how, in the name of sport, the disciplines of philology, history, art history and archaeology came together to create this global sporting event."
"Olympism" is curated by Alexandre Farnoux, Professor of Greek Archaeology and Art History at Sorbonne University; Violaine Jeammet, Senior Curator in the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Musée du Louvre; and Christina Mitsopoulou, Archaeologist at the University of Thessaly, French School at Athens.
Ahead of the Olympics, the famed Parisian museum is working to get ready for the throngs of visitors. In January, it raised its basic ticket price from 17 euros to 22 euros. Per the Art Newspaper, the 30% price increase "will help to subsidise free entry for certain individuals. Teachers of art history, visitors aged under 18 from the European Union, staff from the French Ministry of Culture and disabled visitors all qualify for free admission."
"Olympism: Modern Invention, Ancient Legacy" will be on view at the Louvre Museum from April 24 through September 16. Get tickets at ticketlouvre.fr
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