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

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