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| Louvre Moves Artworks as Seine Rises to Highest Level Since 1982 | Louvre Moves Artworks as Seine Rises to Highest Level Since 1982 |
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| PARIS — The Louvre Museum and the Musée d’Orsay lifted out masterpieces from galleries vulnerable to flooding, and cultural institutions across the French capital turned away tourists, as continuing rains on Friday lifted the Seine River to its highest levels since 1982. | PARIS — The Louvre Museum and the Musée d’Orsay lifted out masterpieces from galleries vulnerable to flooding, and cultural institutions across the French capital turned away tourists, as continuing rains on Friday lifted the Seine River to its highest levels since 1982. |
| As of early afternoon, the Seine had reached 18.5 feet, about 14.4 feet above its typical level. It was expected to crest Friday evening at 20.7 to 21.3 feet, according to Jérôme Goellner, regional director for energy and environment in the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris. | |
| The Seine has not overflowed this much since December 1982, when it rose to about 20 feet, but the river’s level is still far short of the 26.2 feet reached in the catastrophic deluge of January 1910. | |
| The government has made emergency plans to evacuate the Élysée Palace, the seat of the French presidency, to the Château de Vincennes, a former royal fortress just east of the capital, if the waters reach 21.3 feet. | The government has made emergency plans to evacuate the Élysée Palace, the seat of the French presidency, to the Château de Vincennes, a former royal fortress just east of the capital, if the waters reach 21.3 feet. |
| “We’re not yet at this stage,” an official at the general secretariat for national defense and security told the magazine Le Point. “For now, we’re making sure that all plans are ready and that the different measures may be set in motion to ensure the continuation of governmental work.” | “We’re not yet at this stage,” an official at the general secretariat for national defense and security told the magazine Le Point. “For now, we’re making sure that all plans are ready and that the different measures may be set in motion to ensure the continuation of governmental work.” |
| At the Foreign Ministry, on the Left Bank, officials expressed fears that telecommunications and computer equipment on the lower floors of the building, the Quai d’Orsay, could flood, but they said the ministry’s archives had been moved to the suburbs in 2010 for safekeeping. | At the Foreign Ministry, on the Left Bank, officials expressed fears that telecommunications and computer equipment on the lower floors of the building, the Quai d’Orsay, could flood, but they said the ministry’s archives had been moved to the suburbs in 2010 for safekeeping. |
| Heavy rains have caused flooding across much of France, and 20,000 households and businesses were without power on Friday, mostly in the Seine-et-Marne area, east of Paris, and Essonne, south of Paris, a result of the swelling of the Marne and Loing tributaries of the Seine. | Heavy rains have caused flooding across much of France, and 20,000 households and businesses were without power on Friday, mostly in the Seine-et-Marne area, east of Paris, and Essonne, south of Paris, a result of the swelling of the Marne and Loing tributaries of the Seine. |
| Workers in Paris erected a special barrier Friday morning to protect an underground electrical transformer station near the Pont de l’Alma to protect it; the substation provides power to about 80,000 customers in the 7th and 8th arrondissements. | Workers in Paris erected a special barrier Friday morning to protect an underground electrical transformer station near the Pont de l’Alma to protect it; the substation provides power to about 80,000 customers in the 7th and 8th arrondissements. |
| The evacuation of artworks from the Louvre, which was closed to visitors, has attracted particular attention. Starting on Thursday, officials at the museum, which is on the Right Bank of the Seine, activated an emergency flood-protection plan established in 2002, prioritizing the most fragile artworks, like tapestries. | The evacuation of artworks from the Louvre, which was closed to visitors, has attracted particular attention. Starting on Thursday, officials at the museum, which is on the Right Bank of the Seine, activated an emergency flood-protection plan established in 2002, prioritizing the most fragile artworks, like tapestries. |
| An estimated 150,000 artworks in storage rooms and an additional 7,000 works in galleries were vulnerable to flooding, and a large proportion of those were moved to higher floors as a precaution, officials said. On Twitter, Yannick Lintz, a curator of Islamic art, to which the Louvre has dedicated a lower-level gallery, posted an image of exhibition cases emptied during the evacuation, which lasted all night. | |
| Galleries holding ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman art, including a room containing a famed bust of Homer, were also affected. | |
| The evacuation was expected to last four days, though it was unclear if the plan would be halted if the Seine were to definitively stop rising. | The evacuation was expected to last four days, though it was unclear if the plan would be halted if the Seine were to definitively stop rising. |
| Officials emphasized that no waters had entered the museum, one of the world’s largest cultural institutions, housed in a palace complex with origins in the late 12th century. | Officials emphasized that no waters had entered the museum, one of the world’s largest cultural institutions, housed in a palace complex with origins in the late 12th century. |
| The Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, which is in a former train station on the Left Bank, said they planned to reopen on Tuesday. Other cultural institutions that were closed on Friday included the Musée du Quai Branly, which is devoted to non-Western art, and the main Bibliothèque Nationale building, named after former President François Mitterrand. | The Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, which is in a former train station on the Left Bank, said they planned to reopen on Tuesday. Other cultural institutions that were closed on Friday included the Musée du Quai Branly, which is devoted to non-Western art, and the main Bibliothèque Nationale building, named after former President François Mitterrand. |
| The Musée Girodet in Montargis, a town about 77 miles south of Paris, suffered heavy damage on Thursday. The museum is devoted mainly to the work of Anne-Louis Girodet, a Romantic painter who died in 1824. | The Musée Girodet in Montargis, a town about 77 miles south of Paris, suffered heavy damage on Thursday. The museum is devoted mainly to the work of Anne-Louis Girodet, a Romantic painter who died in 1824. |
| “We had the time to save a majority of the works by Girodet, our major artist,” Claire Hansen-Béales, a museum official, told the radio station France Info, on Thursday. “But the rest of the collection at the moment is a big question. The works had been stored in safeboxes in the basement of our building, which is on the banks of the Briard canal. We can’t access the basement at the moment. We will have to wait for the water level to drop before we can do an inventory.” | “We had the time to save a majority of the works by Girodet, our major artist,” Claire Hansen-Béales, a museum official, told the radio station France Info, on Thursday. “But the rest of the collection at the moment is a big question. The works had been stored in safeboxes in the basement of our building, which is on the banks of the Briard canal. We can’t access the basement at the moment. We will have to wait for the water level to drop before we can do an inventory.” |
| Heavy rains have also caused deadly flooding in Germany, particularly in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg and in the southern state of Bavaria. | Heavy rains have also caused deadly flooding in Germany, particularly in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg and in the southern state of Bavaria. |
| On Thursday evening, the police in Lower Bavaria confirmed the death of a sixth victim in the region, a 65-year-old man whose body was found in Simbach am Inn — bringing to 10 the number of deaths attributable to the flooding. A couple in Lower Bavaria were missing. | On Thursday evening, the police in Lower Bavaria confirmed the death of a sixth victim in the region, a 65-year-old man whose body was found in Simbach am Inn — bringing to 10 the number of deaths attributable to the flooding. A couple in Lower Bavaria were missing. |