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

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