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

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