View source for Louvre Inverted Pyramid

{{short description|Skylight in the Carrousel du Louvre}}
{{redirect|The Inverted Pyramid|the 1924 novel by Bertrand Sinclair|The Inverted Pyramid (novel)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Louvre museum's inverted pyramid (cropped).jpg|Part of the Louvre Inverted Pyramid|thumb]]
[[File:Place du Carrousel from the window 2007.jpg|thumb|View of the square base of the Louvre's Inverted Pyramid, located in the middle of the [[roundabout]] of the [[Place du Carrousel]]]]

The '''Louvre Inverted Pyramid''' ({{langx|fr|Pyramide inversée du Louvre}})<ref name=ViewOnCities/> is a [[skylight (window)|skylight]] constructed in the [[Carrousel du Louvre]], an underground [[shopping mall]] in front of the [[Louvre|Louvre Museum]] in [[France]]. It may be thought of as a smaller sibling of the more famous [[Louvre Pyramid]] proper, yet turned upside down: its upturned base is easily seen from outside.

==Design==
The inverted [[pyramid]] marks the intersection of two main underground walkways beneath the [[Place du Carrousel]] and orients visitors towards the museum entrance under the [[Cour Napoléon]]. Tensioned against a {{convert|30|t|ST
|adj=on}}, {{convert|13.3|m|ft|adj=on}} square steel [[Caisson (engineering)|caisson]] frame, the inverted pyramidal shape in laminated glass points downward towards the floor. The glass of the pyramid itself is {{convert|10|mm|in}} thick, while the glass above the pyramid at courtyard (ground) level, which must be able to support the weight of pedestrians, is {{convert|30|mm|in}} thick.<ref>"The inverted pyramid", p. 177, in ''The Grand Louvre: History of a Project'', under the direction of Dominique Bezombes. Paris: Moniteur, 1994. {{ISBN|9782281190793}}.</ref> The tip of the pyramid is suspended {{convert|1.4|m|ft}} above floor level.  Individual glass panes in the pyramid are connected by [[stainless steel|stainless-steel]] crosses {{convert|381|mm|in}} in length. After dark, the structure is illuminated by a [[frieze]] of [[Searchlight|spotlights]].

Directly below the tip of the downwards-pointing glass pyramid, a small stone pyramid (about {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on| disp=comma}}) is stationed on the floor, as if mirroring the larger structure above: The tips of the two pyramids almost touch.<ref>[https://www.louvre.co.il/ Louvre Museum Tour]</ref>

The Pyramide Inversée was designed by architect [[I.M. Pei]], and installed as part of the Phase II government renovation of the Louvre Museum, known as the [[Grand Louvre]] project. It was completed in 1993.<ref name=ViewOnCities>{{cite web |title=Louvre Pyramid |website=A View On Cities |url=http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/louvrepyramid.htm |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128190703/http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/louvrepyramid.htm |archive-date=28 November 2019 |access-date=23 August 2016 }}</ref> In 1995, it was a finalist in the [[Benedictus 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."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HtxOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22inverted+pyramid%22+%22benedictus+award%22 "Inverted Pyramid, The Louvre"], ''The Dupont Benedictus Award'', AIA/ACSA Council on Architectural Research, 1996. {{OCLC|34133614}}.</ref>

==''The Da Vinci Code''==
The Inverted Pyramid figures prominently on the concluding pages of [[Dan Brown]]'s 2003 international bestseller ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]''. The protagonist of the novel, [[Robert Langdon]], reads esoteric [[symbol]]ism into the two pyramids: The Inverted Pyramid is perceived as a [[Chalice (cup)|Chalice]], 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 the [[sex]]es. 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 of [[Mary Magdalene]].

At the climax of [[The Da Vinci Code (film)|the 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 the [[sarcophagus]] 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.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|La Pyramide Inversée}}
* {{Structurae|id=20003454|title="Pyramide Inversée"}}
* [https://www.louvre.fr/en/routes/da-vinci-code "Visitor trails: The Da Vinci Code, Between Fiction and Fact"], Louvre website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120703044942/http://chrismolloy.com/www/p152 The Paris Meridian, or "Rose Line"]

{{Louvre}}
{{Louvre Museum}}
{{I. M. Pei}}
{{Visitor attractions in Paris}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|48|51|41.1|N|2|20|2.8|E|type:landmark_region:FR|display=title}}

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[[Category:Louvre Palace]]
[[Category:Inverted pyramids]]
[[Category:Pyramids in France]]