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Beyoncé credited for Louvre attendance record

The famous glass pyramid that is The Louvre museum in Paris has attributed its 2018 attendance record to a Beyoncé video shot in front of the Mona Lisa and other famous works.

More than 10.2 million people visited the museum in 2018, a 25 per cent increase from 2017, which saw 8.1 million attend.

Musée du Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris with approximately 38,0000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century exhibited.

Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said the rise was in part down to a follow-on from a tourism slump in Paris caused by a wave of terror attacks.

However, Martinez also gave credit to Beyonce and Jay Z, who shot the video for their hit “Apeshit” in the galleries of the museum. 

The popular clip, which has been viewed 147 million times on YouTube, went on to form the basis of a tour designed by the Louvre that takes in the 17 paintings and sculptures featured in the video.

“The Beyonce clip and the opening of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi had people around the world talking about the Louvre. And one of the consequences is this spectacular rebound in the visitor numbers in 2018,” Martinez told France Info radio.

A €60m revamp of its reception areas and ticketing system also helped one of Paris’s best-known landmarks manage the influx.

Image: Benh LIEU SONG