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