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

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