Shrine to beauty, pride of France, and home to the singular Mona Lisa—with a history spanning over eight centuries, the Louvre is known above all as the foremost art museum on earth. Though only a portion of the museum’s vast 360,000 square meters is open to the public, most guests are unable to see everything in a single day.

Indeed, becoming a regular visitor is perhaps the only way to get to know your way around.

The museum has 403 exhibition rooms, lengthy hallways, basement spaces, libraries, studios, and at least 10,000 stairs. Step foot inside the grandiosity that is the Louvre, and you cannot help but feel your curiosity come alive. It makes you wonder: what’s on the minds of the people who keep this palatial institution alive? How do they spend their days? First we’ll enter through the glass pyramid, taking the stairs down into the Hall Napoléon, the lobby of the museum.

“We have such a variety of guests that when we lend out audio guides, sometimes I’m shown an ID from a country that is new to me,” says Servane de Landsheer, deputy director of guest relations, which has over 1,200 agents. To maintain an ideal experience for visitors from all over the world, museum security is always ready to respond. “We recommend not setting a number of works to see. Just enjoy the work you happen to run into.” The enormity of the Louvre may be dazzling, but a look behind the scenes puts things in focus.

Everyone has the right to enjoy the museum

“Unless you come and take a look around, it’s hard to feel like the museum belongs to you.”

At home among the halls, Daniel Soulié could rightfully be called a walking encyclopedia of the Louvre. Most visitors have probably passed him without realizing. Daniel spends his days moving about the museum, like a fish swimming in a sea of art. As a student of art history in France, he had long cherished the idea of working at the museum and finally realized his dream in 1988, when the pyramid in the courtyard was still under construction. Over thirty years later, he now draws from his scholarly knowledge and astounding memory as a member of the “mediation” team, connecting the museum with its visitors. Simply put, his role involves reviewing all written and audio-visual information presented to visitors. This description may conjure up images of someone at a desk, editing materials throughout the day, but Daniel never stays in one place for long. To gather information, he firmly believes you need to see things for yourself, just like in archaeology and art history.

“I’ve been coming to the Louvre several times a week since I was a student. Even today, I never stick around the office very long. I’m always moving through the halls. My colleagues sometimes ask, ‘Out for a walk?’ But I say ‘No, I’m doing my job.’ Specifically, I’m paying close attention to how the visitors are experiencing the museum. Spend an hour sitting in a room, and you get a sense of what people are looking at and reading, or what they’re not reading for that matter, as well as where they tend to stop. This is the basic principle of mediation, something you can only learn by spending hours upon hours in the museum. I’m proud to say that this has given me a fairly good idea of how our visitors engage with the collections.”

Going beyond pamphlets and signage, Daniel’s work requires a three-dimensional, multifaceted approach. One aspect of this is creating and testing new visitor routes. People have asked him for a way to see the whole museum in an hour and a half, but Daniel shakes his head decisively. “No way. It’s physically impossible. That’s not even enough time to start off on the first floor of the Denon Wing and loop around the building to the French paintings on the third floor of the Richelieu Wing. But the only reason I can offer a response like this is that I know the building in and out.”

The Louvre’s treasure trove of art is truly oceanic; if you try to have it all, you’ll end up drowning. What’s the best way to break the experience into manageable pieces? As the author of multiple books for newcomers, Daniel recommends “taking advantage of one of the nights with free admission.” Best not to try to cover every piece of art in the museum in a single go. Instead, he says, it’s good to make a number of short trips. Plus, the beauty of the Louvre at night is an experience all its own, like coming to another world. Generally closing at 6:00 p.m., as of January 2019 the Louvre has offered Free Saturday Nights, where the museum stays open until 9:45 p.m. to give even more people a chance to enjoy the collections. Sympathizing with the idea of sharing art with a wider audience, starting this spring UNIQLO is partnering with the museum to support them in their outreach efforts. Roman glass sparkling in the evening, the mosaic tiles of the Islamic art collection thrown into relief under the lights. Spend time engaging with the paintings in dignified stillness, and the afterglow will follow you as you exit the museum, like when you step outside a movie theater after a long movie.

“You have a right to come to the museum. This place belongs to you. Since the Louvre is a national museum, its collections are coowned by the 67 million people of France, but it’s our pleasure to welcome visitors from all over the world to partake in the same ultimate experience. Here I’ll add that everyone has the right to like a piece of art or not, which means it doesn’t really matter if somebody tells you ‘this piece is important’ or ‘pay close attention here.’ All that matters is finding something that brings you joy. It could be any piece of art in the museum. The most important thing is that the artwork gives you a transcendent feeling, a sense of peace or happiness. Museums give us an opportunity to replenish the soul.”

Unchanged Methods, Changing Museum