The Louvre

‘In his fluent and fact-rich account of the building’s many stages James Gardner…deftly combines the niceties of bricks, mortar and changing architectural styles with telling anecdotes and the broader historical context…with his eye for colour as well as architectural detail’ - Sunday Times‘In his courageous and erudite new book, critic James Gardner is bold to take in, and take on, what few mortals have the chance or the stamina to do. Think of reading this book as the full experience you are temporarily denied today, or may never have had the energy to undertake…Open the book and enjoy the visit.’ - Washington Post‘With its fast-moving and rich narrative, this truly excellent book needed to be written: the fascinating and turbulent story of the Louvre as a royal palace has been largely eclipsed by its much shorter and more famous life as a museum. Here both parts of its long history have been splendidly recounted.’ - Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art‘The perfect balance of architectural and social history, full of fascinating and unexpected detail, and salted with delightfully sly wit.’ - Jacky Colliss Harvey, author ofRED: A Natural History of the Redhead

James Gardner is an art historian and art critic at the Weekly Standard. He has written regularly on Old Master Painting for the Wall Street Journal and Antiques magazine, where he is a contributing editor. He has been architecture critic for the New York Observer and New York Sun.