The New Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art Department

A new department has been initiated by the Louvre Museum, which will be known as the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art (DABCO). This department will bring together approximately 14,000 works—currently dispersed throughout various collections within the museum—into a unified display within 3,000 square meters of newly dedicated gallery space in the Denon Wing.

DABCO will focus on Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art as a coherent ensemble, examining its profound relationship with images, symbols, and codes that shaped a civilization centered around iconography. The department will also explore the interplay between image and text across multiple languages, including Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Syriac, and Ge’ez. Furthermore, it will highlight the artistic and cultural exchanges between Byzantium and the West, exemplified by notable works such as a mosaic fragment from Torcello, near Venice.

The design of the new department, as well as the renovation of the Roman antiquities trail, has been entrusted to a French American consortium BGC and WHY Architecture led by Kulapat Yantrasast. Yantrasast and his team’s approach aims to create a more coherent, flexible, and comprehensive visitor experience. By establishing thoughtful connections between collections, the new layout will allow visitors to better understand the points of convergence between civilizations and appreciate the richness of their interactions and mutual influences.

American Friends of the Louvre is actively working closely alongside the Louvre Museum to fundraise for the restoration and innovation of these gallery spaces, and has proudly raised over $10 million as of the end of 2025.