Louis XVI planned the transformation of the Louvre from a royal palace to public museum. But it was the revolution which gave the true stimulus and the Grande Gallerie was finally opened by Napoleon in 1793. With the opening of the Richelieu wing in the former Ministry of Finance, French painting is now superbly displayed in chronological order from its origins to the mid-nineteenth century, while the great masterpieces of Italian, Flemish, Dutch and German paintings are shown as never before. Michel Laclotte, former curator of the Museums, and Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Head Curator of the Department of Paintings, describe the origins and development of the different schools in a highly readable and informative text.