Paris, Louvre

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 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 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 galery 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 rcently 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 diploma’s, 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.

253 pictures related to this museum

Alexander IV	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, sphinxes	Khorsabad, Lion-taming spirit ("Gilgameš")	Horus, Osiris, Isis (from the reign of Osorkon II)
Utica, Funeral stela	Aglibol (Moon), Ba'al Šamem (Lord of Heaven), and Malekbel (Sun)	Alexander, statuette from Lower Egypt	Timna, Dedication by Rathad'il
Julia Mamaea	Sherd from the fourth millennium BCE	An Egyptian poem about the battle of Kadesh	Tombstone of Iglum, son of Sa'adillat
Statues of Sekhmet	King Djedefra	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, lion	Taharqo venerating the falcon-god Hemen
Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods	Corbulo	Flower offering on a funeral stela from Pharsalus	Ptolemy X Alexander
Amulet of Darius	Tyre, Hellenistic building inscription from Al-Ma'shook	Theodosius II	Caere, Sarcophagus of the Spouses
Osorkon I	Marib, Dedication to Almaqah, detail	Statuette of Bes, dedicated by Pakher, chancellor of king Psamtek I	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Kition, Egyptianizing capital	Khorsabad, Iron tool	Heraclius and Khusrau	Khorsabad, Lamassu
Susa, Soldiers' Relief, mythological creatures	Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Relief of Arbela	Valerian Jr	Leo I
Imperator inscription (EDCS-05600393)	A Ptolemaic queen (Cleopatra I, Cleopatra II or Berenice III)	Statuette of an Etruscan warrior	Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription
Agrippa	Pompey the Great. Louvre, Paris (France)	Sobekhotep IV	Bosra, Nabataean altar
Justinian (Barberini Ivory)	Saba, the Arab warrior Mushayqat Hamayat ibn Yusuf on a dromedary	Caere, Banditaccia necropolis, Wall painting of an archer	A Christian phylacterium, invoking the protection of several celestial beings to protect one Alexandra
Socrates	Temple of the Šutrukids, relief	Temple of the Šutrukids, relief	Utica, Oil lamp
Scythian archer on an Athenian dish	The Albani Alexander	Informal portrait of Sobekhotep IV	Pot from the fourth millennium BCE
Khorsabad, Foundation Tablet	Idalion, statue of Melqart	Antinous	Temple of the Šutrukids, inscription
Susa, DSf (Elamite)	Ptolemy II Philadelphus	Ugarit, Temple of Baal, Stele with the king of Ugarit in front of the god Baal Saphon	Merenptah
Artemis and Apollo killing the Niobids	Mask of a Sumerian	Senusret III	Inscription of Nicocles
Susa, Soldiers' Relief, lion	Figurine from Bactria	Drawing of Amenhotep I	Yemen, Dromedary pendant
Apollonia, Relief to commemorate the battle of Actium	Stele of Šutruru	Faustina II	Smyrna, Honorific decree for an officer of VI Ferrata
Ramesses VII	Giza, Diner of Nefer	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Arsinoe II
Treaty between Naram-Sin and Elam	Temple of Athena, relief, Triton	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Didia Clara
Roman officer	Demetrius Poliorcetes	Cyprus, bilingual inscription	The "Mistress of the animals": slab from the original temple of Artemis. The archer partly visible to the right must be Heracles
Achaemenid administrative document	Susa, neo-Elamite decoration	Stele of the "smiting god" from Ugarit.	Tayma, Dedication to Salm
Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Suovetaurilia	Punic sphinx	Portrait of a man from the Temple of Apollo in Pyla
Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Sumerian-Akkadian Dictionary	A Sumerian phalanx on the Vulture Stele from Lagash	A bowl from Tepe Hesar I	Livia
Tayma, Taymanite inscription	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, flowers	Rome, S. Pietro, Sarcophagus with Christ as Lawgiver	Alexander the Great as founder of Alexandria
Vase painting of an archaic Greek galley	The Mesha Stela	Aššur, Annals of Tikulti-Ninurta II	Keki, the courtier
Susa, DSf (Old Persian)	Antiochus III the Great	Boy with hoop and rooster	Megara, Figurine of two hoplites
The Azara herm	Yemen, Woman's head	Olympia, Temple of Zeus, Model	The Azara herm
Matidia	Temple of the Šutrukids, goddess	Head of Croesus on a Greek vase	Immortal (Susa)
Relief of a scribe	Bottle from Tepe Hesar level II	Middle-Elamite model of a sun ritual	Portrait of a man, third quarter of the first century CE (the so-called "Vitellius")
Demetrius Poliorcetes	Amasis	POWs being led away on an Akkadian victory stele	Pittacus
Statuette of a Libyan	Antioch, Judgment of Paris	Arsinoe III	Geta
Idalion, orientalizing gold dish	Sallustia Orbiana	Aegis of Osorkon IV	Susa, DSf (Babylonian)
Ajax and Cassandra.	Mosaic of man dressed as an ostrich	Ptolemy XII Auletes	Crassus
Sasanian king, perhaps Peroz	Moabite warrior god	Ptolemy IV Philopator	Temple of the Šutrukids, relief: the bull-man
Stone fish	Tyche (figurine)	Gortyn, Inscription with laws	Relief of an Anatolian fort (from the Assyrian city Nimrud)
Isis and Nectanebo II (Serapeum, Saqqara)	Gold plate with royal warrior	Alexander the Great. Portrait from Delos	Tablet from Girsu with a fragment of a Sumerian Creation Epic
Senusret III	Montuhotep II wearing the red deshret crown	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurines	Letter from Artabanus II, requesting the appointment of one Hecataeus as treasurer
Darius' DZb inscription	Dancers on a very ancient piece of pottery from Rhagae	Portait of a priest	Upper part of the Codex of Hammurabi; taken from Babylon to Susa, it was excavated in what is now Iran.
Cleopatra VII in Egyptian style	Statuette of a hippopotamus	Salonina	Psamtek I
Ptolemy III Euergetes	Berenice II	Dionysiac head	Smyrna, Diadumenianus
Kition, Statuette of a woman	A stucco apse	Stele of Isis, Horus, and Cleopatra VII Philopator	Esarhaddon and his mother attend the restoration of Babylon
The counterweight of a spear	Funerary portrait	Annius Verus	Dedication to Inšušinak
Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Foundation Inscription	Apries	Sasanian cup	Utica, Oil lamp
Julia Domna	Rules for the trumpetters of III Augusta (EDCS-11000956)	Ptolemy XI Alexander, gold sealing ring	Dedication by Ilîmagud Mayfa
Statue of queen Napirasu, wife of Untaš-Napiriša	Byblos, Relief of a lion	The body of Hector	Antonia Minor
Titus	The Azara herm	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Nicomedia, Hellenistic Funerary relief
Temple of Athena, relief, symposium	Model of a tower	Battle axe	Stone relief with a banquet scene
Ptolemy I Soter	Messalina	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Thelsae, Nabataean altar
Greek plate with a picture of the Chimaera. Louvre, Paris (France)	Agrippa Postumus	Tydeus painter, Hoplite battle	Fausta
Ptolemy IV Philopator or Ptolemy VI Philometor	Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus	Hellenistic or Parthian figurine of a harpist	Fragment of the sarcophagus of Sety II
King Sargon II (right) and his crown prince Sennacherib (left)	Relief with the sacrifice of goat	Ramesses IV	Khorsabad, Relief of two courtiers
Apollonia, Relief of two hoplites	Enkomi, Late Bronze pectoral with sphinxes	Old Paphos, Epitaph of King Echetimus	Stele of Adda-hamiti-Inšušinak
Akhenaten and Nefertiti	Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription	Persian nobleman; statue from Egypt	Susa, Apadana, capital
Marib, Dedication to Almaqah	The Azara herm	Babylonian map of the western Zagros. A road, a mountain, and a river are indicated.	Temple of Athena, relief, bulls
Seleucus I Nicator	Ugarit, Alphabet tablet	Doorknobs from Choga Zanbil (Paris)	Khorsabad, Relief of rafts on a great river
Pupienus	Nectanebo I, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Silver rhyton
Cleopatra II or III as Isis	Susa, weight from Didyma	Mosaic of a musician	Sobekhotep IV
Aelius Caesar	Yemen, Relief of a bird eating grapes	King of the Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty	Sphinx with the portrait of king Siamun
Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Nectanebo I wearing the war crown	Herodes Atticus	Cartouche of Osorkon I
Eretria, Two-headed phial	Statuette of Raherka, inspector of the scribes, and his wife Merseanch	Funeral inscription of Itaybel	Mosaic of the Birth of Paris
Rim of a cup with the name of Xerxes	Shabaqo	The Awan King List	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurine of a bull
The Azara herm