Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is going to have a separate room as the Louvre Museum in Paris has created a new exhibition space for the painting. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the decision on Tuesday (Jan 28) while explaining the plan to expand and renovate the world’s biggest and most visited museum. 

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Standing in front of the painting, Macron said that the museum would create a new entrance in its easternmost facade, which will be open by 2031. This is to reduce the crowd at the museum, which gets around nine million visitors every year. The renovation, as per Macron, is also to inspire a new generation of artists with a “passion for France and Europe”.

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The Mona Lisa is now kept behind a protective glass after several attacks by paint, cake, and even soup in the past years. As the majority of the crowd visits the museum to see the masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, many great works by other painters, such as Titian and Veronese, go unnoticed. 

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Macron's announcement came after the director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, expressed his concerns over the "very poor condition" of the museum. 

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Macron said the expansion of the museum should be "a part of the national narrative, but... also part of the message that France wants to deliver to the world." 

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Moreover, in what some called a controversial move, Macron said that the cost of the renovation would be covered by increasing the ticket prices for non-EU visitors. He did not disclose the cost that would go into the renovation.

(With inputs from agencies)