459 Original Intention

North bank of the Seine.

The Louvre.

Pei Yunxi, dressed simply and wearing sunglasses, strolled alone through this art sanctuary, hailed by Western media as the finest in the world.

It was her third visit here, yet she still found herself experiencing something new.

After all, the Louvre covered an area of 45,000 square meters—just on one level—while it currently displays works on three floors above ground and two below.

England has the British Museum, Meilijian has the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but why is it that with their typical arrogance, Westerners universally acknowledge the Louvre as the finest in the world?

Perhaps it's as Benjamin once said in his Arcades Project, "Maybe Berlin is mightier than Paris; perhaps London is truly the financial and wealth capital of Europe; but it is only Paris that is the capital of all Europe because the culture and art of the whole of Europe ultimately flow to Paris, where they clash and ascend."