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We spent two full days in the Louvre or about 15 hours, walking its lavish interior space filled with priceless art, jewelry, ancient sculpture, and furniture. The length of this famous art museum is remarkable. The Louvre covers about 60,600 square meters. Just imagine walking 652,000 square feet!
The Louvre’s art collection is even more impressive as this top art museum houses over 35,000 works of art, spanning from ancient Egypt to 19th-century art.
Yes, the Louvre is most famous for the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s Dying Slave, Canova’s sculptures, David’s paintings, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. However, the palace displays so many other incredible pieces of art that I’d stay there for weeks to sketch and paint from this famous art if I could.

History of the Louvre as a Royal Palace:

Let’s look at the history of the Louvre Palace before it became a museum. Construction began on a fortified castle on the right bank of the Seine River in Paris in the 12th century. In the 16th Century, King Francis I (1515-1547) transformed the castle into a luxurious royal residence, inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture. The king hired Leonardo to be his court artist in the last decade of the artist’s life and commissioned the Mona Lisa, among other pieces. (The famous Italian artist da Vinci passed away in France, and that’s why the Mona Lisa is in the Louvre, not Italy). When Louis XIV moved the royal court to Versailles in the 17th century, he left the Louvre as a royal palace for occasional visits and storage of art collections.

During the French Revolution in 1793, the Louvre transformed into an art museum as it was declared a “museum of the people.” In the 19th Century, Napoleon Bonaparte expanded the Louvre’s collection through conquests and purchases, making it one of the world’s largest and most prestigious art museums. Emperor of France from 1800 to 1814, made significant expansions of the art collections. A century later, the Louvre underwent extensive renovations and expansions under Georges-Henri Rivière, director of the Louvre from 1887 to 1908. The construction of the famous glass pyramid by architect I.M. Pei happened in 1989. https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace

The Louvre consists of several architectural styles present in the museum:

The earliest parts of the Louvre were constructed in the Gothic style (12th-16th centuries) with pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and stained glass windows. The oldest section of the museum, known as the “Old Louvre,” exhibits Gothic architectural elements.

King Francis I’s reign marked a significant shift toward the Renaissance style, inspired by Italian architecture in the 16th-17th centuries. The Renaissance portion of the Louvre features symmetrical facades, columns, and ornamentation. (Example: The Cour Napoléon, a central courtyard, showcases Renaissance architecture.)
The 18th century saw a revival of classical architecture, characterized by symmetry, proportion, and the use of Greek and Roman motifs, which is called Neoclassical style. ( Example: The Denon Wing, one of the main wings of the museum, is a prominent example of neoclassical architecture).

Modern Architecture of the 20th century includes I.M. Pei’s Glass Pyramid. Designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, looks very different from the older sections of the museum.

Mansard Roofs: A French Architectural Innovation

The roofs of the Louvre are a combination of several architectural styles. In some of the older parts of the Louvre, you might find slate roofs, which were common in medieval and Renaissance architecture. These roofs often have a steep pitch and are covered in dark, natural slate tiles. The newer sections of the Louvre, especially those built in the neoclassical style, often feature mansard roofs. These French roofs have a double-sloped design, with a steeper lower slope and a flatter upper slope. Mansard roofs were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and are known for their practicality, offering added height and visual interest to buildings.

Mansard roofs, named after the French architect François Mansart, originated in France during the 17th century. King Louis XIV was a patron of arts & architecture who must have favored and influenced the popularity of mansard roofs in France.
These roofs offer several advantages. The sloped upper part of the roof allows for additional usable space within the attic or dormer. The steeper lower slope helps to shed rainwater more efficiently, reducing the risk of leaks and water damage. Also, the Mansard roofs can provide additional structural support to a building, especially in areas with heavy snowfall or strong winds. The symmetrical, balanced, and unique visual design of mansard roofs offers a distinctive silhouette that Paris is known for.

It’s not the first time I visit the museum, but I’m thrilled to share incredible genius of artists who created these pieces. I found the Louvre’s best art, some of it overly famous and other is not. Let’s explore the museum’s art collection together.

The Napoleon III Apartments

These luxurious red rooms are the most astonishing ones in the whole palace! You can’t skip them even if you’re short on time. You’d be stunned by the richness of its decorations. In 1861, these rooms became the apartments of Napoleon III, Minister of State, in the Richelieu wing. These opulent rooms in red, gold, and art, with crystal chandeliers, were used for various receptions, balls, dinners, and meetings between 1852 and 1870. It’s one of the most opulent rooms I’ve seen in many European palaces. Made around 1860, the largest chandelier sparkles with 180 lights and measures 4.7 by 3.27 meters.

One of the rooms displays the portrait of Emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873). The salon-theatre displays the portrait of Empress Eugénie and could house up to 250 guests. There was a special musicians’ platform above the stage hidden at first sight. The rooms have novel-designed red chairs and three-seater armchairs that zigzag to seat several people at once to have conversations. The Ministry of Finance occupied the rooms until the day the Louvre became a museum in 1993.

French Crown Jewels collection in the Apollo gallery

Being just 23 years of age, King Louis XIV aligned himself with the ancient Greek god Apollo to become the sun king in France. He hired the best artists of the day, including the architect Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun, the first artist to the king, to work on one of the most beautiful rooms in a palace after it burned in fire. These famous artists later worked on the Hall of Mirrors at the Château de Versailles, the preferred residence of the Sun King.

Le Brun created a whole journey of the God Apollo in a series of ceiling paintings. The sun god rides his chariot across the sky from dawn to dusk. Apollo’s journey is set with many images, symbols, and representations of time, zodiac, and calendar to show the rule over the Universe. In 1850, famous French artist Eugène Delacroix received a commission to decorate the ceiling’s centerpiece – a 12-metre wide painting. Delacroix depicted the most famous scene from the ancient Greek mythology, Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python, in a style of French Romanticism. At the same time, beautiful portrait tapestries of 28 monarchs and artists were added as wall decorations.

Today, you can view the royal collection of 800 hardstone vessels and the French Crown Jewels in the Galerie d’Apollon. These unique, artful vessels are made of precious stones, like agate, amethyst, lapis lazuli, jade, and crystal. Louis XIV had great taste!

THE FRENCH CROWN JEWELS (1530-1789)

On 15 June 1530, François I, king of France from 1515 to 1547, established the French Crown Jewels, selecting eight pieces of royal jewelry that were to remain the inalienable property of the monarchy. King Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715) added more items to the collection during his reign. Under the subsequent sovereigns, for various occasions, the gemstones were used and remounted to create new items.

Today, you can admire natural beauty of precious stones and artistic achievement captured in a crown of Louis XV, a crown and diamond brooch of Empress Eugénie, Tiara of the Duchesse d’Angoulême, jewels of Queen Marie Amélie, necklace and earrings from the emerald parure of Empress Marie Louise, the Regent and pink diamonds, and many more fantastic pieces!

Badge of the Order of the Holy Spirit: 400 brilliant-cut diamonds and a ruby mounted on silver

The Order of the Holy Spirit, founded in 1578 by King Henri III, was a French order of chivalry. There are two hypotheses as to who received this badge from King Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774): his son-in-law, Philip, Infante of Spain and Duke of Parma, named Knight of the Order in 1736; or his grandson, Ferdinand, Infante of Spain and future Duke of Parma, named Knight of the Order in 1762. It was modelled on the badge from the white insignia of Louis XV, created by Pierre-André Jaqmin about 1750.

Eternal Egypt: Best Egyptian artifacts to see at the Louvre

The Egyptian art collection at the Louvre primarily came about through three main avenues, Napoleon’s conquests, 19th century acquisitions, donations, and purchases.

Did you know that Jean-François Champollion was the French scholar who deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822. He was just 32 years old. He founded the Egyptian museum in Turin, Italy and the Egyptian collection in the Louvre by convincing Charles X to purchase the Egyptian artifacts.

The role of Napoleon in shaping the Louvre’s art collection:

During his military campaigns in Egypt (1798-1801), Napoleon and his troops discovered and plundered numerous ancient Egyptian artefacts. These treasures were then brought back to France and eventually housed in the Louvre. The 19th century saw a surge of interest in Egyptology, leading to numerous archaeological expeditions and discoveries. Many of these artifacts were acquired by European museums, including the Louvre. Also, over the years, the Louvre has acquired Egyptian artefacts through donations from private collectors and purchases from antiquities dealers and art collectors. These additions have further enriched the museum’s Egyptian collection.

The Louvre today boasts one of the world’s most extensive and significant collections of Egyptian art of over 6,000 works spanning 5,000 years of Egyptian history, including iconic pieces such as the Sphinx of Tanis. Egyptian art collection is rich and occupies two floors of the palace. Let’s look at the best Egyptian artifacts at the Louvre.

To house the Egyptian collection, some rooms were redone into the Museum of King Charles X (Egyptian Antiquities, Room 637, Sully wing, Level 1).  The architects linked nine rooms together with high openings and stucco decorations. These are very beautiful rooms with painted ceiling decorations that were done by several famous French artists of the period, Antoine-Jean Gros, Horace Vernet, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Painted scenes depict ancient Egypt in Greco-Roman style. One of the paintings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Apotheosis of Homer, was replaced with a copy, and the original hangs in room 702 (Salle Daru), Denon Wing, Left 1.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/a-royal-setting-for-egyptian-antiquities

Some of the most famous and best Egyptian artifacts to see at the Louvre include a Seated Scribe figure, jewelry, sarcophagi, tomb of Akhethotep, furniture, clothes, granite statues of kings and queens (Sesostris III, Ahmose Nefertari, Hatshepsut, Amenophis III, Nefertiti, Akhenaton and Ramesses II), standing statue of Horus, and numerous artifacts I list below.

Pectoral with the name of Ramesses II, Room 642, Sully wing, Level 1. 1279 / -1213 (Ramses II), cloisonné inlay, glass, electrum. It was found in a tomb of Ramses II.

Osiris, Isis and Horus represent a founding myth of Egyptian religion. Osiris was killed by his brother Seth but he was revived by his wife Isis who also birthed their son Horus, the falcon god. Horus symbolizes victory over evil and the enduring power of the pharaohs.

The cat goddess Bastet, 664 / -610 (Wahibrê Psamtik I), copper alloy, gold. Museum’s purchase in 1852 from a collector.

The ‘mastaba’ tomb of Akhethotep

“The mastaba of Akhethotep was purchased from the Egyptian government in 1903 and reconstructed in the Louvre. During the Old Kingdom (2700–2200 BC), members of the king’s circle were entitled to be buried in an elaborate mastaba – a massive structure built over a shaft leading down to an underground chamber, where the mummy of the deceased lay in a sarcophagus. The superstructure above the shaft contained a funerary chapel, where offerings were made to the deceased” -the Louvre

The Crypt of the Sphinx & Great Sphinx of Tanis

Room 338, Sully wing, Level -1

Naos, once housing the statue of Osiris

The pharaoh Amasis (570-526 BC) had this pink granite naos bearing his name made for a temple in the Nile Delta dedicated to Osiris. A naos is a wooden or stone chapel, large or small, present in each temple and housing the cult statue of the god to whom the monument is dedicated. Every day, priests would open their doors, bringing offerings of purified food and drink to the god, who was dressed in special attire. Carved from a single block of granite, the naos bears depictions on its outer walls of the many deities constituting the personal guard of the god Osiris. Through augmented reality, the statue of the god Osiris regains its position in the temple sanctuary and receives offerings once again. By walking around the monument, you can explore the reliefs portraying the other gods. **From the museum’s description.

Reign of Amasis (570-526 BC), 26th Dynasty

The Dendera Zodiac

Made of sandstone, it was created between 15 June-15 August 50 BC, and purchased in 1822. Place of discovery: Temple of Hathor.

Various astronomical phenomena are recorded here, on the ceiling of one of the rooftop chapels of the temple of the goddess Hathor in Dendera. Inside a circle showing the year divided into ten-day periods (decans), we can see the twelve constellations of the zodiac, the five planets known at the time, and two eclipses – one solar and one lunar.

Upon its discovery in 1798, archaeologists hoped to date the Egyptian civilization correctly, but it raised great concerns over the established biblical chronology. Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) was off by a hundred years, proposing the 50 AD date to reassure the pope of the established date of the Flood. Today, the temple’s inscribed dedications suggest its establishment in 54 BC, under Cleopatra’s reign. Through augmented reality, you can explore the three-dimensional details of these decorations and travel through the different levels of this celestial vault.https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010028871

The Palace of Sargon II: History of the Louvre’s collection of ancient Near Eastern art

This is one of the most fascinating galleries in the Louvre because it displays the 8th century BC excavations of the ancient city, decorations, and the palace of King Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin, present-day Khorsabad (Room 229, Richelieu wing, Level 0).

These wall sculptures represent the Assyrian Empire of King Sargon II, who built a new capital at Khorsabad, the largest city in the ancient world, with a huge palace. Unfortunately, his city soon declined after his death on a battlefield in 705 BC. French archeologists rediscovered the place buried in sand in the 19th century and brought the artifacts into the Louvre. Paul Émile Botta, the French vice-consul in Mosul, excavated the site that began the Mesopotamian and Near Eastern archaeology. https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/the-palace-of-sargon-ii

Carved into the entrance walls of the palace for protection, the protective genii (called aladlammû or lamassu) watched over the city and its palace. These colossal winged bulls weigh 28 tons each. Carved from a single alabaster block, the mythical, protective creatures look like bulls with eagle wings and human heads. These are fascinating creatures that resemble the art style of ancient Egypt with strangely moving legs, faces in profile, and flattened wings. This protective creature smiles gently and wears a hat with 3 sets of horns representing the divine power of the Mesopotamian region.

In these galleries, you can view “Gilgamesh overpowering a lion”, the high-relief sculpture that lacks original color but keeps its rough beauty. (Room 229, Richelieu Wing, Level 0). We look straight at the mad face of Gilgamesh squashing a lion. It’s not a side view, which is an unusual depiction of the hero. 721 /705 (Neo-Assyrian: Sargon II). It’s interesting to see how different people were in that region of the world. The man wears a bushy beard and curly hair. His long robe covers a loincloth. He wears sandals, earrings, and even a couple of different bracelets that were probably signs of his high status. This dark-toned sculpture was probably colored in white and other hues. Unlike the most refined granite sculptures of ancient Egypt, this figure lacks perfect proportions of the body but keeps stylization in place.

Cuneiform Script:

Sumerians developed cuneiform, a system of writing using wedge-shaped marks impressed into clay tablets, around 3500 BCE. The Louvre’s Near Eastern Antiquities collection, housed in the Galerie d’Angoulême (Room 301, Richelieu wing, Level 0), features Sumerian artifacts including cuneiform tablets, statues, stelae, and other objects.

The Louvre houses a Sumerian document with microscopic cuneiform, containing more than 30 lines of text and six to seven times as many signs as an ordinary cuneiform tablet. The Louvre also has a fragment of the Lament for Sumer and Ur, a Mesopotamian city lament.

Highlights of the Greek and Roman antiquities at the Louvre

This Ancient Greco-Roman Art Collection spreads across many rooms and levels. Obviously, it’s impossible to list everything that’s in this spectacular ancient Greek and Roman art collection but here are a few of my favorites.

The Louvre’s Greek art collection is a result of centuries of collecting, discoveries, and acquisitions. The first significant Greek artifacts were acquired by French collectors in the 16th century, primarily through diplomatic missions and personal travels. In the 17th Century, the Louvre began to acquire a small number of Greek antiquities, often as part of larger collections or gifts from wealthy individuals.

In the 18th Century, the Grand Tour, a cultural pilgrimage to Italy and Greece, became popular among European aristocrats. Many of these travellers returned with collections of Greek antiquities, which were often donated or sold to museums like the Louvre. Lord Elgin, a British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, is perhaps the most famous collector of Greek antiquities from this period. His controversial removal of the Parthenon Marbles from Athens remains a subject of continuous debate. You can read about the Parthenon’s fate here.

The 19th century saw a surge in archaeological excavations in Greece, leading to the discovery of numerous ancient Greek sites. Many of the artifacts found during these expeditions were acquired by museums, including the Louvre. Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist, is famous for his excavations at Troy and Mycenae, he also wanted to excavate Knossos. The Louvre continued to acquire Greek antiquities through donations and purchases from private collectors throughout the 20th century.
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City are among the other major museums with significant ancient Greek art collections.

The galleries dedicated to Classical and Hellenistic Greece are found in Room 344, Sully Wing, Left 0. They were transformed into a large space from the royal apartments to display ancient Greco-Roman sculptures in the Louvre.

The galleries have several different sculptures of Athena, the Greek goddess of war, victory, and power. Mattei Athena stands tall with both hands in a resting pose gesture, and Athena, known as ‘Pallas of Velletri’ has one hand raised up and another down. Athena without arms is probably an ancient marble copy of a colossal sculpture that was standing on the Acropolis Hill in Athens.

Torso of the ‘Diadumenos’ type, Imperial Roman, marble, 100 / 150 (1st half of the 2nd century AD),  Room 344, Sully wing, Level 0https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010250998

The galleries with ancient Greek vases are located in a different place, the Galerie Campana. This is a long space of rooms with thousands of high-quality ancient Greek vases, cups, and other vessels. These galleries have several famous vases, like Hercules stealing the tripod from Apollo or Athena helping the hero win his battles, etc. The Marquis Giampietro Campana (1807–1880) was a super wealthy art collector who also led some archeological finds. After his arrest for financial fraud, his art collection was confiscated and sold off to czars and Emperors of Europe including Napoleon III. It’s a truly remarkable collection of ancient Greek pottery that can’t be missed! https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/the-marquis-greek-vases

What shocked me about the Louvre’s Greek art collection is its high quality and vast size. I’ve been to Greece before, and the archaeological museums in Athens and the islands have little high-quality ancient Greek art left in situ. It was disappointing but clear that Greece “gave away” numerous art pieces to private and public art collections around the world. Besides the Greco-Roman sculpture hall, the Louvre displays numerous, high-quality, ancient Greek vases in several rooms of the palace, the Galerie Campana.

Model of the temple of Zeus in Olympia

The Greco-Roman art collection includes many sculptures of goddesses in the Louvre collection, including the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Venus of Arles.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Who was the Goddess of Victory? In antiquity, the winged goddess Nike expressed the will of the gods. She announced, rewarded and glorified the victors. We often encounter the figure of Nike in sculpture, pottery, and goldsmithing. The Nikes found at the sanctuary of Delphi come from public buildings, where they were used as symbols of victory in literal or metaphorical battlefields.

The Venus de Milo

The Venus de Milo name comes from the Greek island of Melos, where she was found in 1820. The Marquis de Rivière, the French ambassador to Greece, bought the piece and presented the sculpture to King Louis XVIII. This is one of the best-preserved female nude sculptures existing today. The proportion, movement, and simplicity are divine. Venus was the only goddess depicted in the nude, and Greek sculptor, Alexandros of Antiocha, carved the woman in a beautiful, natural pose. https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace/ideal-greek-beauty

The Michelangelo Gallery inside the Louvre

Napoleon III ordered the redesign of this gallery during the Second Empire (1852–1870). The Michelangelo gallery houses the unfinished work by Michelangelo and Canova’s masterpieces, among other Italian sculptures from the 16th to the 19th century. Built between 1854 and 1857, the Michelangelo gallery led to the Salle des États (the rooms that served for the legislation of the country). This new gallery also became an open space for a prestigious annual art competition, the Salon, for sculpture.

13 Famous Artists inside the Louvre

These are some of the most famous artists in the world, listed in no particular order. There are many more inspiring artists in the Louvre that I simply don’t have space to do so.

1. Leonardo da Vinci

Who painted the Mona Lisa and when, you may ask?

2. Eugene Delacroix

3. Arcimboldo

4. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

5. David

David was the leading artist of the neoclassical art style being admirer of Michelangelo and Caravaggio. David is famous for his large-scale historical painting. His paintings ,like The Oath of the Horatii and The Intervention of the Sabine Women are on display in the Louvre, Room 702 (Salle Daru), Denon wing, Level 1.

6. Georges de La Tour

7. Caravaggio

The Fortune Teller – Caravaggio 1595

Death of a virgin – Caravaggio 1606

Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page

8. Johannes Vermeer

9. Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault, “The Raft of the Medusa”. It was a revolutionary painting because it depicted a controversial subject of the day. This monumental painting depicts the aftermath of the shipwreck of the French frigate Medusa in 1816 and is considered a masterpiece of the Romanticism movement that created much controversy during the painting’s reveal. The artist depicted figures with stunning realism and movement characteristic of the Romanticism style.

10. Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson

11. Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun

Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, La Paix ramenant l’Abondance

12. Titian

Titian, The woman in the mirror, oil painting, 1525 / 1550

13. Paul Delaroche

The Islamic Art Collection

What kind of Islamic art is in the Louvre Museum?

The Islamic art collection has amazing artifacts displayed in spacious, dark galleries below the ground floor in Cour Visconti. Some of the pieces display remarkable artistic skills. The collection spans from the rise of Islam in the 7th century to the late 19th century. Geographically, the collection comes from four regions: Spain, India, North Africa, and Egypt. Room 185, Denon Wing, Left -1

There are several Islamic zodiac/astral/celestial tools displayed throughout the museum, but i don’t remember what room they belonged to.

I hope you enjoyed traveling across centuries of beautiful art with me. You can watch my video about the Louvre to see even more beautiful art, the interiors of the palace, the streets of Paris, and the beauty of France! Let me know what your favorite art is in the comments section of the video.

Further reading: