The Louvre Museum, one of the largest museums in the world and a central Paris landmark, matched its record-breaking 2008 attendance figures, last year.
 Da Vinci's Mona Lisa takes pride of place at the Louvre |
According to its officially released annual attendance figures, 8.5m people explored the Paris museum.
A further 3.5m people visited travelling shows of Louvre works in France and abroad.
Meanwhile, over in Asia, one travelling 18th century European painting exhibition drew 1.5m visitors in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan.
Last year, temporary exhibits at Paris's Louvre included a show about the ancient Egyptians and works by the Venetian Renaissance masters Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese.
And, with permanent displays including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa - a work that is often used to illustrate art itself - the Musée du Louvre should be confidently anticipating a recession-defying 2010.
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