Louvre Museum gets $3 million gift from eBay founder for Persian art

Pierre Omidyar, the French-born founder and chairman of eBay, is giving $3 million to the American Friends of the Louvre that will go toward funding educational and scholarly programs on Persian art and culture at the Paris museum.

The announcement comes just a few months after Iran declared that it would cut ties with the Louvre over a dispute involving the exhibition of Persian artifacts.

Organizers said that income from the new fund will go toward projects at or in collaboration with the Louvre, including special exhibitions, installations, conferences and publications.