Cour Napoléon

Take in the open space around the Pyramid before concentrating on the glass itself. The surrounding stone façades extend far beyond it, giving you a sense of how many different rooms belong to this one museum. Cour Napoléon is the outdoor space where the three principal wings can be understood together. Richelieu occupies the northern side, Denon the river side, and Sully closes the court toward the east. Their names are worth keeping: choosing a wing turns an enormous building into a more manageable visit. Look for the contrast between the repeated palace windows and the clear geometric surfaces at the centre. Each gives order to the space in a different way. The architect I. M. Pei reorganised the museum’s arrival around an underground reception hall, inaugurated with the Pyramid in 1989. That hall lies beneath the court and is a separate interior space. From outside, the glass lets you recognise the museum’s modern entrance while keeping the older buildings in view. The court gives the whole arrangement room to breathe.