| Louvre Museum | |
 | |
| The Napoleon court | |
| Information | |
| Country |  France |
|---|---|
| City | Paris |
| District | 1er district of Paris |
| Area | 210 000 m² |
| Collection (s) | Near Eastern Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Islamic Arts, Sculptures, Works of Art, Paintings, Graphic Arts |
| Works exhibited | 35 000 |
| Works in reserve | 460 000 |
| Famous work (s) | Mona Lisa, the Venus of Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, The Raft of the Medusa |
| Address | Louvre Museum, 75058 Paris CEDEX 01. |
| Hourly | Every day, except Tuesday, from 9 h - 18 h (nocturnal until 21 h 45 Wednesday and Friday) |
| Location | |
 48 ° 51 ′ 40 ″ N 2 ° 20 ′ 6 ″ E (Edit card mask) | |
| Official site | |
the Louvre Museum is a museum of art and archeology Parisian installed in the former royal palace of the Louvre. Opened in 1793, it is one of the largest and richest museums in the world, but also the most frequented with nearly 9 million visitors per year.
Understand
The Louvre Museum is an art and antiques museum located in central Paris in the Louvre Palace. It is the largest art museum in the world by its exhibition area of 72 735 m2. Its collections include nearly 460,000 works. These present Western art from the Middle Ages to 1848, those of the ancient civilizations that preceded and influenced it (Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman), as well as the arts of the early Christians and of Islam.
The Louvre has a long history of artistic and historical conservation, from the Ancien Régime to the present day. Following the departure of Louis XIV for the Castle of Versailles at the end of XVIIe century, part of the royal collections of paintings and ancient sculptures are stored there. After having housed several academies for a century, including that of painting and sculpture, as well as various artists housed by the king, the former royal palace was truly transformed during the Revolution into the "Central Museum of the Arts of the Republic". It opened in 1793 by exhibiting around 660 works, mainly from royal collections or confiscated from noble emigrants or in churches. Subsequently, the collections will not cease to be enriched by war prizes, acquisitions, sponsorships, bequests, donations, and archaeological discoveries.
Located in the 1er district of Paris, between the right bank of the Seine and rue de Rivoli, the museum is distinguished by the glass pyramid in its reception hall, erected in 1989 in the Cour Napoléon and which has become emblematic of it, while the equestrian statue of Louis XIV is the starting point of the historic Parisian axis. With around nine million annual visitors (since 2011), the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, and the most visited paid cultural site in France. Among his most famous pieces are Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, The Crouching Scribe, The Winged Victory of Samothrace and The Code of Hammurabi.
To go
Located in the heart of Paris, the Louvre Museum is easily accessible from any means of transport. For practical reasons, only the stations and stops directly serving the museum have been mentioned here.
By Metro
- 1 Royal Palace - Louvre Museum (
)
By bus
- 2 Royal Palace - Louvre Museum (
21 48 69 72 81) - 3 Quai François Mitterand ( 24 27 69)
- 4 Louvre Museum ( 27 39 68 69 95)
By bike
The Louvre Museum is served by five Vélib ’stations:
- 5 André Malraux 2, Place André Malraux 75001 Paris
- 6 André Malraux - Louvre Museum 165, rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris
- 7 Saint-Honoré Street 186, rue Saint-Honoré 75001 Paris
- 8 Rivoli - Louvre Museum 5, rue de l'Échelle 75001 Paris
- 9 Temple of the Oratory 2, rue de l'Oratoire 75001 Paris
By car
- 10 Louvre car park Avenue du Général Lemonnier 75001 Paris,
33 1 53 45 22 70 
7 h - 23 h. 
Of 3 € To 55 €. – Located under the Tuileries Garden, this underground car park has 670 spaces.
Of Circulate
To see
It would be difficult to list all of the most interesting works in the museum as there are so many. This is the reason why only the theaters and works best known to the general public by department will be presented here.
Works and masterpieces
Paintings
The Paintings Department of the Louvre Museum, one of the most important in the world, brings together a vast collection of paintings that are among the most representative of the history of European art. Sweeping all schools and all currents, from the Italian Trencento (XIIe century) to French romanticism (XIXe century), this department is also one of the most visited, and in particular its Grand Gallery which leads to the museum's most emblematic work, Mona Lisa.
Italian paintings
With nearly a thousand paintings preserved, this is one of the richest collections in the world. All the great names of the Italian Renaissance are represented, from the precursors (Giotto, Fra Angelico) to the great masters of the Quattrocento (Leonardo da Vinci, Le Pérugin, Raphaël, Botticelli, etc.) and of the baroque period (Le Caravaggio, Le Correggio). , Les Carraches, Véronès, etc.).
Italian paintings are exhibited at 1er floor of the Denon wing.
- 1 Great Gallery (Denon, 1er, rooms 5, 8, 12) – Arranged under Henry IV at the end of XVIe century, the Grande Galerie, 450 m long, initially linked the medieval Louvre to the Tuileries Palace. When the museum opened in 1793, it was in this room that the first works from the former royal collections were exhibited. Today, the Grande Galerie brings together all of the Italian paintings from XIIe to XVIIIe centuries. Among the countless masterpieces on display are several paintings by Leonardo da Vinci (La Belle Ferronnière, The Virgin of the Rocks, Saint Anne), by Andrea Mantegna (Saint sebastian, The Virgin of Victory), Perugino, Raphael (Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione), by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Spring, summer), Caravaggio (The Fortune Teller), the Carrache brothers, Correggio, etc.
- 2 Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa) Mona Lisa Room (Denon, 1er floor, rooms 6) – Undisputed masterpiece of the museum, Mona Lisa is a painting painted by Leonardo da Vinci at the beginning of the XVIe century. Representing Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo, the painting entered the royal collections on the death of the Italian master in 1519. Famous around the world, the work is admired by nearly 20,000 people every day. This crowd makes it difficult to observe the painting, which is why we recommend going there as soon as the museum opens, closes or during the night.
French paintings
Due to its vocation as a national museum, the Louvre naturally holds the largest collection of French paintings in the world. Of the four thousand works preserved, only a quarter is exhibited to the public. All periods and all schools are represented: from Portrait of John II the Good (XIVe century) and the Fontainebleau school (XVIe century) to classical paintings by Philippe de Champaigne, Nicolas Poussin, Georges de La Tour, Jean-Antoine Watteau… and neoclassical paintings by Jacques-Louis David, Eugène Delacroix, Théodore Géricault or Jean-Dominique Ingres.
All French paintings are exhibited at 2e floor of the Sully Wing and the Richelieu Wing, with the exception of the large formats of the XIXe century exhibited in 1er floor of the Denon wing.
- 3 Daru Room (Denon, 1er floor, room 75) – Created in 1863 under Napoleon III, this room, parallel to the Grande Galerie, now houses all the large formats of French neoclassical painting. They accommodate a large number of paintings among the best known such The Oath of the Horatii (David), the Coronation of Emperor Napoleon Ier (David) or The Grande Odalisque (Ingres).
- 4 Mollien room (Denon, 1er floor, room 77) – Also created in 1863 for the Imperial Museum, this room directly follows the Daru room. It accommodates all the large formats of French romantic painting including very famous paintings among which Liberty Leading the People (Delacroix) and The Raft of the Medusa (Géricault).
Paintings from Northern Europe
With more than a thousand paintings in reserve, the Louvre has one of the largest collections of Flemish and Dutch paintings in the world. Covering all currents of XVe to XIXe centuries, all the great names are represented among which Hieronymus Bosch, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Antoine van Dyck, Jacob Jordeans, Rembrandt, Rubens, Johannes Vermee, etc. The museum also has a significant collection of German paintings including some paintings by Albrecht Dürer, Caspar David Friedrich or Hans Holbein the Younger, as well as some works from Scandinavian schools.
All these paintings are exhibited in 2e floor of the Richelieu Wing.
- 5 Medici Gallery (Richelieu, 2e floor, room 18) – This gallery was specially fitted out to accommodate the twenty-four paintings that Marie de Medici, widow of Henry IV, commissioned from Rubens to adorn the apartments of the Luxembourg Palace that she had just built. Painted between 1622 and 1625, this series traces the life of the queen, magnified by the presence of the gods of Greco-Roman antiquity.
Spanish paintings
Smaller than the previous ones, the collections of Spanish paintings in the Louvre include around 130 paintings, half of which are on display, including some big names such as El Greco, Francisco de Goya or Diego Vélasquez.
Spanish paintings are exhibited in the Pavillon de Flore at 1er floor of the Denon wing, following the Grande Galerie and the Italian collections.
English and American paintings
Comprising around 120 paintings, the Anglo-Saxon collections of paintings date mainly from the XVIIIe and XIXe centuries with big names such as Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable or J. M. W. Turner.
Anglo-Saxon paintings are exhibited in the Pavillon de Flore at 1er Floor of the Denon Wing, following the Spanish Collections, in the Gainsborough Room (Room 32).
Greek and Russian icons
The Louvre Museum has a small collection of Orthodox icons exhibited in room 31, 1er floor of the Denon wing, in the Pavillon de Flore.
Sculptures
With more than six thousand works in custody, a third of which are on display, the Louvre Museum's Sculptures Department has one of the richest collections in the world. Three major schools are represented there: the Italian and Spanish schools of VIe to XIXe centuries, the Northern European school of XIIe to XIXe centuries and the French school, the most important in the world, whose works on display range from the High Middle Ages to the XIXe less popular than others, this department is mainly visited for two of these works: the Marly horses and the Slaves by Michelangelo.
Note that all the sculptures prior to the Middle Ages have been attached to other departments. For more details, refer to their descriptions below.
French sculptures
Covering all periods, from the beginnings of Romanesque and Gothic art to romantic sculptures, this imposing collection traces the long history of French sculpture through a rich chronological journey. Beginning with the religious art of churches and abbeys, it continues with the discovery of recumbent figures and funerary monuments, then the first sculptures of the Renaissance to end with the great names of the classical period (Jean Goujon, Germain Pilon, Ligier Richier), baroque (François Girardon, Antoine Coysevox, Pierre Puget), neoclassical and romantic (Guillaume Coustou, David d'Angers, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Jean-Antoine Houdon).
French sculpture is on display in the Cours Puget and Marly on the mezzanine on the ground floor of the Richelieu Wing.
- 6 Cour Marly (Richelieu, mezzanine / ground floor) – Built by Hector-Martin Lefuel for the palace of Napoleon III, the Marly court was occupied for a long time, from the proclamation of the IIIe Republic, by the Ministry of Finance. It was not until 1993, when the museum was enlarged, that the courtyard was opened to the public. It has since housed all the outdoor sculptures that once adorned the Château de Marly, including the famous Horses of Coustou.
- 7 Puget Court (Richelieu, mezzanine / ground floor) – Contemporary of the Marly court, the Puget court was also built by Hector-Martin Lefuel for the palace of Napoleon III. Long used by the Ministry of Finance, it was not released to the public until 1993, when the museum was enlarged. Since then, it has housed all the French outdoor sculptures from the 17th century.e, XVIIIe and XIXe century, many of which were made by Pierre Puget, in the image of Milo de Crotone, a masterpiece of the court.
- 8 Marly horses (Richelieu, entresol, cour Marly) – Commissioned in 1739 by Louis XV, these two 3.50 m high sculpted groups were made by Guillaume Coustou to decorate the drinking trough of the Château de Marly. Made of Carrara marble, they represent two rearing horses held by a groom. Relocated during the Revolution at the entrance to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, they were transferred to the Louvre in 1984 for protection.
Italian and Spanish sculptures
Less extensive than the French section, the Italian and Spanish collections are no less rich in masterpieces. Covering all eras, from the Middle Ages to the neoclassical period, great names are represented there such as Andrea della Robbia, Francesco Laurana, Le Bernin, Antonio Canova or Michelangelo. Italian and Spanish sculptures are exhibited on the mezzanine and in the ground floor of the Denon Wing.
- 9 The slaves (Denon, ground floor, room 4) – The Slaves are a set of two sculptures said The Dying Slave (where the Captive) and The Rebel Slave, made around 1515 by Michelangelo. Originally commissioned by Pope Julius II for his tomb, they were finally excluded from the project and given, unfinished, by Michelangelo to his friend Roberto Strozzi, who in exile, in turn donated them to Francis 1er.
Sculptures from Northern Europe
This collection presents a wide range of artistic production carved from XIIe and XIXe centuries carried out in England, Flanders, the Netherlands as well as in Germanic countries. Relatively modest compared to the other two, this collection is best known for its depiction of Saint Mary Magdalene, a statue of the XVIe century by German artist Gregor Erhart.The sculptures from Northern Europe are exhibited in the mezzanine and ground floors of the Denon Wing, following on from the Spanish and Italian collections.
Oriental Antiquities
- Department of Oriental Antiquities
Temporary exhibitions
Do
To learn
Eat
- The Café Richelieu (Richelieu wing) – The café is located in the Richelieu wing.
- Cafe Marly (Napoleon Court) – The brasserie enjoys a view of the Louvre pyramid
- Bistro Benoit (Under the Pyramid), 33 1 40 20 53 20
