1793 was a "hot" year, marking the creation of the Musée Central des Arts, today's Musée du Louvre, and the emergence of a new doctrine in 1794: art, being a product of liberty, was to be repatriated to the land of liberty, i.e. France. This date marked a turning point: after 1794, France considered that it should have the "finest museum in the universe" and acquired, by force of arms, works of art from the Netherlands, the German-speaking world and present-day Belgium - Cologne, Ghent, Antwerp. In 1796, Italian cities were called upon to contribute manuscripts, antique statues and extremely famous paintings. In 1797-1798, and in the years that followed, the departments on the left bank of the Rhine that had become French had to send their best manuscripts and works of art to Paris. In 1800, some 50 paintings from Bavaria were added to the French capital's collections, including Albrecht Altdorfer's The Battle of Alexander. In 1806-1807, Prussia and its allies, then Austria, delivered around a thousand paintings, around a hundred antique works and precious manuscripts, followed by Spain after the civil war of 1808-1809. Finally, from 1811 onwards, Dominique-Vivant Denon, director of the Louvre, made a last mission to Italy, collecting Italian "primitives" and sending works by Cimabue, Fra Angelico and Giotto, which are still in the Louvre today.
In the space of fifteen years, Paris absorbed the best from public collections, European aristocracies and churches, forming what Dominique-Vivant Denon called "the most beautiful museum in the universe". After chaotic beginnings, the Louvre caught up with Europe between 1793 and 1803, and succeeded in forming a scientific museum, so well organized that all European travelers, including the English, were fascinated by this great museum, an enchanting public museum. Its success was enormous, despite its spoliatory origins: visitors took both aspects into account, considering the manner in which the museum had been formed to be politically incorrect, but taking advantage of this considerable gathering of works of art in Paris.
