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

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