Louvre Credits Beyoncé And Jay Z With Record Visitor Total

The Louvre saw a record 10.2 million visitors walk through its doors in 2018 and says Beyoncé and Jay-Z are a big part of the reason why.

In a press release touting the number, a 25% increase from 2017, the museum credited the couple’s music video “Apes–t” with driving interest to one of the world’s premier collections of art.

“The recovery of tourism in France — especially in Paris — boosted visitor attendance in 2018, as did the flagship exhibition ‘Delacroix (1798–1863),’” museum director Jean-Luc Martinez said. “Elsewhere in the world, interest in the Louvre was bolstered by the Louvre Abu Dhabi (which recently celebrated its first anniversary), and by Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s “Apes–t” video, with its tribute to some of the museum’s greatest artworks.”

Released in June as the lead video for the couple’s collaborative album, “Everything is Love,” the sumptuous clip depicts the couple posing alongside some of the most renown pieces from the museum’s collection, including Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Rosso Fiorentino’s “Pietà” and the “Venus de Milo.”

Inspired by the video – and, one assumes, its enormous YouTube view count – the museum launched a 90-minute “Jay-Z and Beyoncé at the Louvre” tour in July.

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