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

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