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

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