Jean-Luc Martinez, director of the Louvre, came to the National Museum of China in Beijing with Mediterranean art collections for the first time ever. The occasion also marks the first time the two museums have worked together.

According to Jean-Luc Martinez, Italian paintings and ancient Greek sculptures are two major cultural relics collected by royals of the Louvre. The Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are both from Mediterranean countries. At the Louvre, cultural relics are displayed by styles or periods within the Mediterranean themed exhibitions. This trip marks the first time the Louvre has shown art from Mediterranean culture in China.

Jean-Luc Martinez planned the exhibition himself, carefully selecting cultural relics from ancient cultures such as Egypt, Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece and Rome. The exhibition displays art from different cultures from countries and regions throughout the Mediterranean Sea as a whole, while also explaining the rise and disappearance of each culture. [Photo/CFP]