Q 01/05

On which side of the Seine does the Louvre stand?

A) The Left Bank

B) The Ile de la Cite

C) The Right Bank

D) The Ile Saint-Louis

Answer · why

C) The Right Bank

It sits in the 1st arrondissement beside the Tuileries Gardens.

Q 02/05

Which French king began the Louvre as a fortress in the late 12th century?

A) Philip II

B) Louis IX

C) Charles V

D) Francis I

Answer · why

A) Philip II

It guarded Paris against attack from the west, since England still held Normandy; its foundations survive in the basement.

Q 03/05

Which king made the Louvre the French monarchy's main residence in 1546 and rebuilt it in Renaissance style?

A) Francis I

B) Henry IV

C) Louis XIII

D) Charles VII

Answer · why

A) Francis I

He is the same king who acquired the Mona Lisa after Leonardo's death.

Q 04/05

According to the Grand Larousse, the name Louvre may derive from a word for what?

A) A river ford

B) A watchtower

C) A wolf-hunting den

D) A royal treasury

Answer · why

C) A wolf-hunting den

The proposed root is Latin lupus via lower-Empire 'lupara'.

Q 05/05

Louis XIV abandoned the Louvre for which palace in 1682?

A) Versailles

B) Fontainebleau

C) Saint-Germain-en-Laye

D) Vincennes

Answer · why

A) Versailles

The Louvre was left mainly to display the royal collection and to house the academies, which held the first Salon there in 1699.