However, the most important project is the refurbishment of the Grand Louvre. The renovated Denon wing was opened to the public in the autumn of 1994 and presents the Italian, Spanish and northern European sculpture collections, including Michelangelo's two well-known statues of a slave. The whole project was completed in 1997 with the opening of 35 new galleries devoted to French painting from the 17th to the 19th centuries and the reorganisation of the Antiquities section. In all there are 34 national museums in France, of which 19 are located outside Paris, and nearly 900 museums under public supervision, generally belonging to local authorities. They are every bit as successful as was expected, attracting over 70 million visitors a year.
Libraries are still amongst the most popular cultural venues in France.
Apart from school and university libraries, there are about 3,000 municipal libraries. It is also home to the new National Library opened in 1996, which can hold 30 million works and now houses the stock of the books, printed documents, periodicals and sound library of the old Richelieu National Library. Cultural Celebrations Special occasions are also set aside for culture. This French initiative has now spread to nearly 80 other countries. This unusual promotional exercise lasting about a week allows people to watch an entire day of films for the price of a single ticket.