Louvre Museum’s Denon gallery damaged by water leak, Mona Lisa unaffected

People wait for the Louvre museum to open as employees at the Louvre Museum vote to extend a strike that has disrupted operations at the world's most visited museum, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS -- The Louvre museum’s Denon gallery, where its most valuable paintings are displayed, was hit by a water leak on Thursday evening, although the area which houses Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was unaffected, said a Louvre spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the water leak had been stopped in the early hours of Friday and that the gallery would soon re-open.

The leak happened in the room 707, where paintings from 19th century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th century Italian artist Bernardino Luini are displayed. The water caused some damage to a ceiling painted by Meynier.

The water leak is the second in less than three months in a museum that has gone through a spate of recent setbacks - including a spectacular jewel heist, strikes and a massive ticket fraud investigation- that have put its management under intense scrutiny.

Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten/Sudip Kar-Gupta, Reuters