Paris, Louvre

Q19675

It is hard to write a review of the Louvre in Paris, because it is one of the world’s largest museums. There are many departments, and each one of them might, in its field, have been a museum of the first order. For example, it is hard to find another Egyptological museum in Europe that equals the Louvre.

The museum also has a reputation for interesting expositions – one on Meroe and one on the archaeology of Saudi Arabia during my latest visit – and to be honest: one ought to visit the Louvre twice a year to keep in touch. The people of Paris are unusually blessed.

If you visit the museum for the first time, you will be surprised by the pyramid-shaped entrance. Use the time you lose to pass the bomb check and buy a ticket to look at it, because it is a monument of the first order.

I already mentioned the Egyptian department, where you can easily spend a full day. There are portraits of the Egyptian kings and objects from daily life, and what is even better: the full history is dealth with, so you will also find objects from the first millennium BCE. The Greek, Roman, and Coptic age are not ignored either, although you need to go to Greek department for the royal portraits of the Ptolemies.

The Egyptian department is deservedly famous, and attracts many visitors, who are usually exhausted when they are half-way their tour. Usually, they will take the shortest route to the exit, which brings them through the departments of Cypriote, Arab, Palmyrene, and Phoenician art – which are, as a consequence, full of people who are not interested in the objects. That is a pity, because these rooms alone justify a trip to Paris. Still, if you manage to ignore the crowd of tired visitors to the Egyptian department, you will certainly enjoy coffins from Sidon, Byblos, and Carthage, Nabataean inscriptions, and statues from Cyprus. One of my favorites is a relief of one of the divine triad of Palmyra. You will need half a day to study it well.

Next to it is the Oriental department. The most famous object is, of course, the Code of Hammurabi. Don’t concentrate on the diorite monolith only, but also look in the small display in the same room, because there you will see cuneiform tablets with the same text – one of them written more than a millennium later and proving that these laws had become some kind of Mesopotamian classic, and it is probably no coincidence that the division of these Old Babylonian laws returns in the Ten Commandments.

The Code of Hammurabi was found in Susa, which is a prominent part of the oriental collection. You will also see a wall decorated with Achaemenid soldiers and cuneiform tablets from this Iranian town. Other important excavations are Mari and Khorsabad, but there is a lot more to see. There are also rooms devoted to Jordan and western Syria; they are not adjacent to the eastern Syria and the other Levantine rooms, which is a bit impractical – but the Mesha stela is worth the detour. You need a full day to study the entire oriental department.

The Roman department is surprisingly small. Yet, there is a lot of fine sculpture, including a nice series of portraits of Roman rulers. Next to it is a comparatively small Etruscan department. A gallery of rather mediocre statues brings you to the room devoted to Roman art that was later restored, which is great fun: usually, you can immediately see which part is ancient and which is an addition. (Here, you will also find Canova’s famous Amor and Psyche.) You need about half a day to see it all, read the explanatory signs, and take your photos.

The Greek department is larger – you again need a full day to study it all. The two most famous pieces are the expressive Nike of Samothrake and the famous Venus of Milo. The latter is more or less the museum’s raison d’être. Napoleon had looted the Italian museums, but after he had found his Waterloo, all those works of art had to be returned. In an age in which it was believed that inspiration by great art created great minds, and that Greek art was the most inspirational, the emptying of the Louvre was believed to be a national disaster, but fortunately, the Venus of Milo was found. Now, France could compete again with the British, who had the Elgin Marbles. That the armless deity was a Hellenistic and not a Classical statue, was ignored – the inscription which proves it, is now conveniently lost.

The Greek department also has some fine temple remains (from a/o Assos), the Tanagra statuettes that I increasingly love, and lots of pottery. Unfortunately, the rooms with Greek ceramics have recently been closed. I haven’t seen the Croesus to the left for quite some time: last time, the room was closed to install better protection; before that, it was on loan to another museum.

The crowds are very large, and you may count yourself lucky that I did not bring you to the paintings. This makes a visit to the Louvre a bit difficult, and you must prepare yourself well; fortunately, the museum’s website is excellent. Four days is the minimum for the ancient departments.

Finally, I must mention one little gem that is often ignored and where you can, consequently, quietly look at the objects: the room with metal objects. There is some fine silver work, but you will also see the helmet of a gladiator, a nice statuette of the Tyche of Antioch, the head of Demetrius Poliorcetes, a hoplite’s panoply, a curse tablet from the Crimea, Roman military diplomas, and so on.

But unfortunately, that’s the only part of the museum where you will not meet many other people. In fact, the museum is too big, and I think that it would be wiser to split it into smaller museums.

This museum was visited in 1984, 1989, 2008, 2010, 2020.

301 pictures related to this museum

Tombstone of Iglum, son of Sa'adillat	Byzantine, Dromedary-shaped lamp	The Azara herm	Fausta
Dibon, Mesha Stela	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Idalion, statue of Melqart	Babylonian map of the western Zagros. A road, a mountain, and a river are indicated.
Delos, Portrait of Alexander the Great	Demetrius Poliorcetes	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion	Smyrna, Attalus II Philadelphus
King Djedefra	Coptic jar with decoration of a woman with wild animals	Sippar, Cylinder with a building inscription from the reign of Hammurabi	Senusret III
Marib, Dedication to Almaqah	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Mythological creatures	Corbulo	Osorkon I
Portrait of a Roman man (CE 070-100)	Susa, Dedication to Inšušinak	The Albani Alexander	Susa, Letter from Artabanus II, requesting the appointment of one Hecataeus as treasurer
Aegis of Osorkon IV	Berenice II	Caere, Sarcophagus of the Spouses	Taharqo venerating the falcon-god Hemen
Mask of a Sumerian	Sobekhotep IV	Merenptah	Smyrna, Diadumenianus
Alexandria Troas, Psyche on a dromedary	Dedication by Ilîmagud Mayfa	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Inscription	Soknopaiou Nesos, Stele of Isis, Horus, and Cleopatra VII Philopator
Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Susa, Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods	Athens, Heliaia, Allotment plate	Nimrud, Relief of an Anatolian fort
Herodes Atticus	Cleopatra VII Philopator in Egyptian style	Statuette of Raherka, inspector of the scribes, and his wife Merseanch	Susa, Middle-Elamite model of a sun ritual
Utica, Oil lamp with a lion and a panther	Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib	Statues of Sekhmet	Sallustia Orbiana
Didia Clara	Figurine from Bactria	Susa, Treaty between Naram-Sin and Elam	Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Nilotic scene (including nilometer)
Apries	Giza, Diner of Nefer	Sphinx of king Siamun	Bawit, Coptic church, Model
Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, king Sargon	Statuette of Bes, dedicated by Pakher, chancellor of king Psamtek I	Ptolemy IV Philopator	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Aššur, Annals of Tikulti-Ninurta II	Ur, Foundation statuette of Amar-Sin	Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela	Eshnunna, Relief of Ištar
Fragment of the sarcophagus of Sety II	Oea, Punic sphinx	Choga Zanbil, Model	Edessa, Mosaic of a lady
Susa, Weight from Didyma	Thelsae, Nabataean altar	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurine of a bull	Moabite warrior god
Esarhaddon and his mother attend the restoration of Babylon	Caere, Banditaccia necropolis, Wall painting of an archer	Wadi Miyah, Palmyrene triad: Aglibol (Moon), Ba'al Šamem (Lord of Heaven), and Malekbel (Sun)	Crassus
Thyatira, Relief of a gladiator (thraex)	Annius Verus	Ajax and Cassandra.	Salonina
Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription	Bosra, Nabataean altar	Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, prince Sennacherib	Montuhotep II wearing the red deshret crown
Tepe Sialk, Sherd from the fourth millennium BCE	Beirut, Tombstone of Valerius Rufus of VII Claudia	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurines	Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Praying man with candelaber and ankh
Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Immortal, Counterweight of a spear	Apollonia, Relief to commemorate the battle of Actium	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Seleucus I Nicator
Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a musician	Smyrna, Honorific decree for an officer of VI Ferrata	Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Relief of Arbela	The Azara herm
Khorsabad, Relief of rafts on a great river	Susa, Hellenistic or Parthian figurine of a harpist	Corinth, Small painting of Poseidon	Faustina II
Susa, The Awan King List	Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a Dionysiac head	Figurine of an Etruscan warrior	Rhodes, Mycenaean jar with a bull (LH IIIa2)
Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Goddess	Pompey the Great. Louvre, Paris (France)	Statuette of a Libyan	Susa, Funerary portrait
Kition, Egyptianizing capital	Susa, Stone fish	Susa, Gold plate with royal warrior	Julia Domna
Megara, Figurine of two hoplites	Ugarit, Stele of the "smiting god"	Rhodes, Head-shaped aryballos	Susa, Battle axe
Uruk, Cuneiform tablet with first use of a zero	Kition, Figurine of a woman	Choga Zanbil, Ziggurat, Doorknobs (Paris)	Rome, S. Pietro, Sarcophagus with Christ as Lawgiver
Nicomedia, Hellenistic Funerary relief	Amulet of Darius	Ptolemy IV Philopator or Ptolemy VI Philometor	Antonia Minor
Timna, Dedication by Rathad'il	Demetrius I Poliorcetes	Psammetichus I	Susa, Apadana, Capital
Vase painting of an archaic Greek galley	Olympia, Temple of Zeus, Model	Ptolemy III Euergetes	Yemen, Dromedary pendant
An Egyptian poem about the battle of Kadesh	Agrippa Postumus	Pyla, Temple of Apollo, Portrait of a man	Titus
Rhagae, Dancers on a piece of pottery	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Cleopatra II or III as Isis	Achaemenid jar with representation of Bes
Cherchell, Inscription of Micipsa	Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Elamite)	Shabaqo	Aelius Caesar
Susa, Neo-Elamite decoration (dragon)	Beirut, Christian phylacterium, invoking the protection of several celestial beings to protect one Alexandra	Yemen, Relief of a bird eating grapes	Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Foundation Inscription
Upper part of the Codex of Hammurabi; taken from Babylon to Susa, it was excavated in what is now Iran.	Nectanebo I, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt	Cirta, Sanctuary of El-Hofra, Votive stela	Head of Croesus on a Greek vase
Justinian I (Barberini Ivory)	Bawit, Icon of Christ and St.Menas	Ptolemy X Alexander	Ramesses IV
Khorsabad, Relief of two courtiers	Cyprus, Bilingual Greek-Phoenician inscription	Bottle from Tepe Hesar level II	Theodosius II
Gortyn, Inscription with laws	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Susa, Achaemenid administrative document	Achmim, Funerary stela of Pamim
Enkomi, Late Bronze pectoral with sphinxes	Relief of a scribe	Arsinoe III	Ptolemy XII Auletes
Alexandria, Alexander the Great as City Founder	Idalion, orientalizing gold dish	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Tayma, Aramaic funerary inscription
Ptolemy I Soter	Valerian Jr	The Azara herm	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Flowers
Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Sumerian-Akkadian Dictionary	Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription DSm	Furnos Minus, Christian funerary mosaic	Relief of a Roman officer
Antiochus VI Dionysus	Ugarit, Alphabet tablet	Boy with hoop and rooster	Athens, Black-figured dish with a Scythian archer
Lascuta, Imperator inscription	Mithridates V Euergetes	Livia (Paris)	Sarcophagus with the body of Hector
Sobekhotep IV	Sippar, Victory stela of Naram-Sin	Ptolemy XI Alexander, gold sealing ring	Rhodes, Mycenaean cup (LH IIIa2)
Susa, Silver rhyton	Alexander IV	Informal portrait of Sobekhotep IV	Ladjvard, Sasanian king, perhaps Peroz
Gladiator helmet	Khorsabad, Lion-taming spirit ("Gilgameš")	Madaba, Funeral inscription of Itaybel	Julia Mamaea
Agrippa	Ugarit, Temple of Baal, Stele with the king of Ugarit in front of the god Baal Saphon	Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Old Persian)	Susa, Statue of queen Napirasu, wife of Untaš-Napiriša
Utica, Oil lamp with a lion and a crocodile	Khorsabad, Lamassu	Tayma, Relief of a sacrifical meal; Assyrian influence	Assos, Temple of Athena, Relief of a symposium
Senusret III	POWs being led away on an Akkadian victory stele	Cyrene, Statue of Antinous	Alexander I Balas
Messalina	Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Babylonian)	Tayma, Dedication to Salm	Tayma, Taymanite inscription
Bowl from Tepe Hesar I	Eretria, Two-headed phial	Matidia	The Azara herm
Lagash, Vulture Stele, Sumerian phalanx	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief: the bull-man	Khorsabad, Iron tool	Antiochus III the Great
Drawing of Ramesses VII	Artemis and Apollo killing the Niobids	Geta	Keki, the courtier
Horus, Osiris, Isis	The Tyche of Antioch (figurine)	Susa, Sasanian cup	Susa, Rim of a cup with the name of Xerxes
Byblos, Relief of a lion	Susa, Stela of Adda-hamiti-Inšušinak	Antioch, Judgment of Paris	Pupienus
Amasis	Leo I	Assos, Temple of Athena, relief, Triton	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Sardes, Temple of Artemis, Relief of the "Mistress of the animals". (The archer partly visible to the right must be Heracles.)	Nefertiti and Akhenaten	Yemen, Woman's head	Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of man dressed as an ostrich
Corinth, Hoplite battle (Tydeus painter)	Khorsabad, Foundation Tablet	Bawit, Portrait of a lady	Apollonia, Relief of two hoplites
Lambaesis, Rules for the trumpetters of III Augusta	Utica, Funeral stela	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion	Chalouf, Darius' DZb inscription
Tayma, Nabataean votive stela	Ostracon with a Coptic Writing Exercise (Thebaid)	Pittacus	Palmyra, Tombstone of a priest
Statuette of a hippopotamus	Baalbek, Mosaic of the Birth of Paris	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief	Fayyum, Coptic chalice
The Azara herm	Ptolemy II Philadelphus	Old Paphos, Epitaph of King Echetimus	Rhodes, Dish with a sphinx
Nectanebo I wearing the war crown	Saqqara, Serapeum, Relief of Isis and Nectanebo II	Assos, Temple of Athena, Relief of two bulls	Alexander, Statuette from Lower Egypt
Heraclius and Khusrau	Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus	Susa, Stone relief with a banquet scene	Suovetaurilia
Greek plate with a picture of the Chimaera. Louvre, Paris (France)	Bishapur, Palace, Stucco apse	Marib, Dedication to Almaqah, detail	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief
Pharsalus, Funerary stela with a relief of a flower offering	Saba, the Arab warrior Mushayqat Hamayat ibn Yusuf on a dromedary	Susa, Inscription of Nicocles	Alexandria, Tombstone of Longinus of II Traiana
Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela with three baetyls	Arsinoe II	Portrait of a man, third quarter of the first century CE (the so-called "Vitellius")	Tyre, Hellenistic building inscription from Al-Ma'shook
Tepe Sialk, Pot from the fourth millennium BCE, decorated with an ibex	Drawing of Amenhotep I	Cartouche of Osorkon I	King of the Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty
Charlemagne	Girsu, Tablet with a fragment of the Sumerian Creation Epic	Persian nobleman; statue from Egypt	Domitian
Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Sphinxes	Susa, Relief with the sacrifice of goat	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Hermopolis, Portrait of a Cleopatra I, Cleopatra II, or Berenice III
Egypt, Byzantine textile, Erotes picking grapes	Socrates	Susa, Stela of Šutruru	Coptic tunic
Sippar, Contract from the reign of Xerxes about a canal