European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 5, 1950, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Each weekday the palais a la louvre plays Host to Between 5,000 and 7,000 visitors drawn to ibis Cradle of the arts to Sec the world s richest collection of masterpieces. Only 150 of More than 1,800 rooms in the Palace Are used for the Art collection which is guarded by 200 watchmen and maintained by a Small army of specialists who do repair Sand restoration work in the louvre s own workshops. The collection includes some 272,150 paintings. The first to be bought forthe louvre was the famous Mona Lisa purchased from Leonardo a Vinci by Francois i and handed Down with the Palace. Not the feat it i the louvre attractions Are its architectural beauties. At top in the grand staircase leading to the famed winged Victory. Below a group of Art Lover stand lost in thought before paintings of the Spanish school. Directly above a tourist uses the base of a statue of Caesar Augustus As a tripod to cat just the Rig tangle for a shot of the ornate ceiling. Center is one of the Moat popular objects in the collection Venus de  -. An attraction separate from the Art masterpieces Are the copyists top right who reproduce famous paintings in the louvre and sell them often at fabulous prices. Some Are so Good at this work that the expert Eye of the connoisseur is often fooled. The louvre maintains copyist service from which copies can bordered. Directly above la another architectural Marvel of tha louvre the ions vaulted err Dor that leads the Art gallery. Feature Section