AXA Mutuelles d’Assurance has become a founding patron of the Louvre Museum’s new Department of Byzantine Arts and Eastern Christianities, scheduled to open in 2027. This marks the museum’s ninth conservation department.
The partnership aims to offer visitors an educational experience that highlights the significance of Byzantine art and history. The department will focus on the diverse influences and crises that shaped this period, while drawing connections to modern debates. It will also raise awareness of the importance of preserving endangered cultural heritage.
Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre, expressed gratitude to AXA for its two decades of support. “This decisive contribution allows us to confidently prepare for the opening of the Department of Byzantine Arts and Eastern Christianity, to share the exceptional wealth of Byzantine civilization,” she said.
I would like to express our deep gratitude to the AXA Mutuelles d’Assurances and the AXA Group as a whole for their unwavering commitment to the Louvre for over twenty years.
Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre

“This support has been essential to the acquisition of many national treasures that have joined the national collections. Today, the decisive contribution of AXA allows us to confidently prepare for the opening of the Department of Byzantine Arts and Eastern Christianity, in order to share with as many people as possible the exceptional wealth of Byzantine civilisation, at the crossroads of cultures and continents.”
AXA CEO Thomas Buberl stated that heritage preservation aligns with the company’s purpose of “protecting what matters.” He added, “We are pleased to partner with the Louvre for this rare and exceptional event: the creation of this new department, the protection and transmission of heritage, especially when it is threatened, is at the heart of our purpose – ‘Acting for human progress by protecting what matters’.”
It was therefore natural for us to support this project which will offer a privileged access to an essential and little-known part of our universal culture within the largest museum in the world.
The Louvre Museum in Paris is the world’s largest art museum and one of the most visited cultural landmarks. Originally a medieval fortress, it became a royal palace before being transformed into a public museum in 1793 during the French Revolution.
The Louvre houses a vast collection of art, artifacts, and historical objects spanning from ancient civilizations to the 19th century.