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

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