The Louvre’s first public exhibition displayed 537 paintings.
The museum opened to the public on 10 August 1793 as the Muséum central des Arts de la République. This date was chosen for the first anniversary of the monarchy’s fall, giving the new institution a strongly republican meaning.
The exhibition was assembled during the French Revolution, after the former royal collection became national property. The display contained 537 paintings and 184 other works of art. About three-quarters of the paintings came from the royal collections; the rest included works confiscated from émigrés and the Church as biens nationaux, or national property.
Visitors could enter free of charge three days a week, a striking change from the restricted access associated with royal collections. The figure 1,793 is a tempting distractor because it resembles the opening year, while 184 refers to the accompanying objects of art rather than the paintings. The Louvre’s public history therefore begins with both a political revolution and a carefully counted collection.