From the refurbishment of historic rooms to collection purchases, the Louvre museum in Paris is quite specific when seeking the public's help to achieve fundraising goals. Online donations are solicited with detailed information to back up the appeal.

Among the special projects that donors may have chosen to support is the restoration of a chubby and smiling Christ Child, a polychrome figure made in Mechlin about 1500.

Once a devotional object for nuns, the rare Infant Jesus statuette was acquired by the museum in 2009. Layers of later colors obscure its original polychrome and a delicate paint removal process is needed.

The current appeal is for one million euros to complete the 4 million euros needed to buy Lucas Cranach the Elders's "The Three Graces." All online donations through Feb. 1, 2011, will be allocated to its aquisition, according to the museum's website.

Painted in 1531 by the German Renaissance master, "The Three Graces" resides in a private collection. The Louvre has already secured 3 million euros for its acquisition.

The well-preserved masterpiece, which the state-funded museum considers a national treasure, depicts a posed trio of nudes with one wearing a jaunty red chapeau. It would certainly be a crowd-pleaser at the museum.

Donors who contribute to the purchase will be acknowledged on the Louvre's website and in public documents.