In 1937/38 as WWII was about to break out, Louvre director Jacques Jaujard decided to evacuate the museums collections. Most of the pieces got evacuated except for the biggest ones, which were protected by sand bags in the galleries. The artworks got sent away, at first to the castle of Chambord, then moved around different castles in a quite confusing way to keep the German enemy confused. The emptied museum reopened under the occupation, mostly showing copies of the originals.
