What downward-pointing skylight stands in the Carrousel du Louvre?

The downward-pointing skylight in the Carrousel du Louvre is the Louvre Inverted Pyramid.

Designed by architect I. M. Pei, the glass-and-steel structure was installed as part of the Grand Louvre redevelopment and completed in 1993. It brings daylight into the underground mall and marks the intersection of two principal walkways beneath the Place du Carrousel.

The pyramid is a smaller, upside-down companion to the famous Louvre Pyramid in the Cour Napoléon. Its suspended glass point stops above the floor, where a small stone pyramid appears to mirror it. The two forms create one of the Louvre complex’s most recognizable architectural contrasts.

The Inverted Pyramid is also widely known because it appears in Dan Brown’s 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. The novel’s symbolic interpretation and fictional underground-chamber idea are not historical facts: the small stone pyramid is a separate object that can be moved for maintenance.