A leaked memo from a Louvre director has sparked calls from an Italian official to return the Mona Lisa to Italy. As President Macron announces a major renovation of the 230-year-old museum, including a new entrance and a dedicated space for the famous painting,

France will launch a six-year renovation of the Louvre in Paris, enlarging the world's most-visited museum to make room for the huge crowds who now cram inside the palace on the banks of the Seine, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

France's President Emmanuel Macron said the Mona Lisa painting would be given its own "special space" within the Louvre as he unveiled a plan to renovate the museum.