Photo: YouTube
The Louvre Museum still holds the title as the world’s most visited museum – and the Carters are partly to thank for that.
Last summer, Beyoncé and Jay-Z filmed their music video at the Louvre, using famous artwork such as Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and Jacques-Louis David’s “The Coronation of Napoleon” as their backdrop. In doing so, the creative duo not only challenged representations of Blackness in art history, but they also helped the historic museum boost its visitors to a record number – 10.2 million to be exact.
The previous record was 9.7 million visitors, which was achieved in 2012.
Photo: YouTube
The Guardian reports that the 25% increase (compared to 2017) was also attributed to international tourists returning to Paris following the 2015 terrorist attacks. Three-quarters of the amount of visitors were foreigners, the U.S. making up the largest number of foreign visitors.
“It’s clear that 2018 was a remarkable year for the international reputation of the Louvre,” the museum’s director, Jean-Luc Martinez, told French radio. “The Beyoncé video, like the opening of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, ensured that the Louvre was talked about across the world, and one of the consequences of that is the spectacular rise in visitor numbers last year.”
PS: We still love how these two nailed the Because of Them We Can version of this photo!