The Louvre will enrich its collection with 272 Christian icons from the East

The Louvre Museum announced on Wednesday, February 26, the acquisition of a private Lebanese collection of 272 Eastern Christian icons, which will be exhibited in its future department of Byzantine Arts and Eastern Christianities from 2027. The amount of this acquisition, made "by mutual agreement", has not been disclosed. This announcement marks a major turning point in the field of religious arts and places the Louvre in a position to strengthen its expertise in Eastern Christian art. This acquisition is part of a desire to promote unique collections that span the ages and geographical areas.

The collection belongs to Georges Abou Adal, a major Lebanese private collector, who built it up mainly between 1952 and the early 1970s. His son, Freddy Abou Adal, then enriched the collection with acquisitions at public auction in the 1990s. It includes icons from Greece, Russia and the Balkans, made by a wide variety of artists. "It includes iconostasis icons, private devotional icons and a beautiful set of triptychs or diptychs also illustrating particular devotion." This iconographic wealth testifies to the diversity of styles and influences across the centuries, with works dating from the early 15th century to the early years of the 20th century.

Among these works, "a rare set of icons produced in the context of the renewal of the Greek Patriarchate of Antioch in the 17th century, in Aleppo in particular, and by Arabic-speaking Christians in Syria, Lebanon and Jerusalem," the Louvre said in a press release. These pieces reveal a profound historical and cultural dimension, particularly for the Middle East region. The collection has been exhibited several times, first at the Carnavalet Museum in Paris in 1993, then at the Geneva Museum of Art and History in 1997, where it was well received by the public and researchers.

The Louvre's future Department of Byzantine Arts and Eastern Christianities will cover an area of ​​2,200 m2 and will present approximately 20,000 works, several hundred of which will be exhibited from 2027. This department aims to show the evolution of Christian art, from its origins in the 3rd century to the 20th century, across a geographical area that extends from Ethiopia to Russia, from the Balkans to the Near East and ancient Mesopotamia. This new initiative allows the Louvre to strengthen its status as a leader in collections of Eastern Christian art, by exhibiting rare and precious works to an ever wider audience.

The acquisition of this collection is a founding act for the Department of Byzantine Arts and Christianities in the Orient, which will welcome its first visitors in 2027. "The Louvre is now one of the only museum collections able to illustrate such diversity in the regions of production of icon art, from the 8th century with Christ and Abbot Mena discovered in Baouît, in Middle Egypt, to the beginning of the 20th century with the imperial triptych representing Saint Nicholas, Saint Alexandra and Saint Alexis." This diversity bears witness to the extent of the artistic influences that have crossed the Christian Orient over the centuries, bringing a unique cultural and spiritual richness.

Finally, to further research and encourage academic exchanges, the Louvre, in partnership with the Collège de France and the École du Louvre, will organize an international conference entitled En chair et en or: regards sur l' Icône, XVe-XXe siècle, on April 7 and 8, 2025. This conference will bring together academics and icon collection managers from many countries to explore new approaches to the icon, addressing transnational, historiographical, and material themes. It will be a unique opportunity to renew the perspectives of research on this age-old art, analyzing not only its history, but also its reception and influence across the centuries.