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TheLouvre Inverted Pyramid (French:Pyramide inversée du Louvre)[1] is askylight constructed in theCarrousel du Louvre, an undergroundshopping mall in front of theLouvre Museum inFrance. It may be thought of as a smaller sibling of the more famousLouvre Pyramid proper, yet turned upside down: its upturned base is easily seen from outside.
The invertedpyramid marks the intersection of two main underground walkways beneath thePlace du Carrousel and orients visitors towards the museum entrance under theCour Napoléon. Tensioned against a 30-tonne (33-short-ton), 13.3-metre (44 ft) square steelcaisson frame, the inverted pyramidal shape in laminated glass points downward towards the floor. The glass of the pyramid itself is 10 millimetres (0.39 in) thick, while the glass above the pyramid at courtyard (ground) level, which must be able to support the weight of pedestrians, is 30 millimetres (1.2 in) thick.[2] The tip of the pyramid is suspended 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) above floor level. Individual glass panes in the pyramid are connected bystainless-steel crosses 381 millimetres (15.0 in) in length. After dark, the structure is illuminated by afrieze ofspotlights.
Directly below the tip of the downwards-pointing glass pyramid, a small stone pyramid (about 1 m, 3.3 ft) is stationed on the floor, as if mirroring the larger structure above: The tips of the two pyramids almost touch.[3]
The Pyramide Inversée was designed by architectI.M. Pei, and installed as part of the Phase II government renovation of the Louvre Museum, known as theGrand Louvre project. It was completed in 1993.[1] In 1995, it was a finalist in theBenedictus Awards, described by the jury as "a remarkable anti-structure ... a symbolic use of technology ... a piece of sculpture. It was meant as an object but it is an object to transmit light."[4]
The Inverted Pyramid figures prominently on the concluding pages ofDan Brown's 2003 international bestsellerThe Da Vinci Code. The protagonist of the novel,Robert Langdon, reads esotericsymbolism into the two pyramids: The Inverted Pyramid is perceived as aChalice, a feminine symbol, whereas the stone pyramid below is interpreted as a Blade, a masculine symbol: the whole structure could thus express the union of thesexes. Moreover, Brown's protagonist concludes that the tiny stone pyramid is actually only the apex of a larger pyramid (possibly the same size as the inverted pyramid above), embedded in the floor as a secret chamber. This chamber is implied to enclose the body ofMary Magdalene.
At the climax ofthe 2006 film adaptation, the camera elaborately moves through the entire glass pyramid from above and then descends beneath the floor below to reveal the supposed hidden chamber under the tiny stone pyramid, containing thesarcophagus with the remains of Mary Magdalene.
In reality, the smaller stone pyramid does not form the tip of a larger pyramid. In fact, it can be pushed aside to facilitate maintenance and cleaning of the glass pyramid above.
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48°51′41.1″N2°20′2.8″E / 48.861417°N 2.334111°E /48.861417; 2.334111
