A gallery between two palaces

Look along the gallery and follow the repeated architectural lines into the distance. Then look at one painting near you. The long view takes you along the room. The painting gives you a place to pause and look closely. Henri IV, the French king who ruled at the end of the sixteenth century, built this gallery to connect the Louvre with the Tuileries Palace. That other palace has since disappeared. The extraordinary length around you once helped join two royal buildings. The gallery acquired a different audience when the public museum opened on 10 August 1793. Paintings from the royal collection became part of a display that visitors could come to see. A space made for the court was becoming a place for public looking. Notice how light and distance affect the paintings. Several are visible at once, but you can pause before one and follow a face, a hand or a line of colour. Take a few steps along the gallery and compare that close view with its long perspective. The passage and the paintings ask you to look at different distances.