ABSTRACT
The decision to open the Muséum des Arts et des Sciences in the Louvre in 1793 with an eclectic arrangement of paintings sparked strong criticism. The Minister of the Interior, who refused to organise masterpieces by schools and chronologically according to the advice of the dealer Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun, was dismissed, as was the Museum Commission for the arrangement of the collections. Opposed to a presentation of pictures that followed the precepts of the academic tradition, Lebrun succeeded in imposing classification methods that were akin to commercial practices. The decision to select the Louvre paintings in line with moral virtues in order to guide all citizens along the path of moral regeneration called into question, though only for a short period, the presence of Dutch and French paintings within the Louvre’s collections.
