Overview
Accommodations
Food
Sights And Activities
Museums
Shopping
Entertainment
Nightlife
Daytrips
Gay and Lesbian Paris
Beyond Tourism
Museums in the first are, of course, dominated by the most renowned of all art showcases in the country (and perhaps the world): the Musée du Louvre. This grand monument is an essential part of any first-time visit to Paris, as much for the building and surroundings (notably, I.M. Pei’s famed glass pyramid) as for the thousands of priceless works inside. However, the smaller museums of the 1 er, although overshadowed by the Louvre in size as well as fame, are some of the best in Paris. The newly re-opened Musée de l’Orangerie, with its impressive Impressionist collection, is not to be missed, and it’s much less overwhelming than the enormous Louvre.
Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre. ☎01 40 20 53 17; www.louvre.fr. Open M, Th, and Sa 9am-6pm, W and F 9am-10pm. Last entry 45min. before closing; closure of rooms begins 30min. before closing. Admission €9, after 6pm (W and F only) €6. Free for the unemployed, under 18, under 26 F after 6pm, everyone on the first Su of every month. Prices include both permanent and temporary collections, except for those in the Cour Napoléon. Tickets also allow same-day access to the Musée Delacroix. 1½hr. tours in English, French, or Spanish daily 11am, 2, 3:45pm; sign up at the info desk. Check website for tours in French sign language and tours for the visually impaired.
The Louvre was built on the foundations of a medieval castle that housed French kings for four centuries and was restructured by a 20th-century Socialist politician and a Chinese-American architect. Filled with priceless objects from tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, halls of Roman emperors, studios of French painters, and walls of Italian churches, it is a monument and a museum that transcends national and temporal boundaries. Explore the endless exhibition halls; witness new generations of artists at work on easels in the galleries; catch a glimpse (if only a glimpse) of the Louvre’s most famous residents: the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the The Right Hand of the Victory of Samothrace; and then come back for more..
Construction of the Louvre began in 1190—and it still isn’t finished. King Philippe-Auguste built the original structure as a fortress to defend Paris while he was away on a crusade. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the fortress into a residential château. The monarchs of the 15th century avoided the narrow, dank, and rat-infested building, but François I returned to the Louvre in 1528 in an attempt to flatter the Parisian bourgeoisie. François razed Charles’s château and commissioned Pierre Lescot to build a new palace in the open style of the Renaissance. All that remains of the original Louvre are its foundations, unearthed in the early stages of Mitterrand’s 1990s renovations and displayed in an underground exhibit called Medieval Louvre on the ground floor of the Sully wing (admission included in museum ticket).
François I was succeeded by Henri II, whose widow, Catherine de Médicis, had the Tuileries Palace built in the Italian-style Jardin des Tuileries. Henri IV embarked on what he called the Grand Design—linking the Louvre and the Tuileries with the two large wings you see today in a “royal city.” He oversaw completion of only a fraction of the project before his death in 1610.
After fleeing the Palais-Royal in 1650, Louis XIV moved into the Louvre. The Cour Carrée owes its classicism to Sun King, who hired a trio of an architect, a painter and a physician— Le Vau, Le Brun, and Perrault, respectively—to transform the Louvre into the grandest palace in Europe. However, Louis XIV eventually abandoned the Louvre for Versailles, and construction did not get past the enormous Renaissance courtyard.
In 1725, after years of relative abandonment, the halls were converted into a space for annual salons held by the Academy of Painting to showcase its members' work. In 1793, the Revolutionaries made the exhibit permanent, thus establishing the Musée du Louvre. For over a century, French painting revolved around the Louvre salons. Napoleon filled the Louvre with plundered art from continental Europe and Egypt (much of which had to be returned after his defeat at Waterloo).
More enduring, however, was Napoleon's construction of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, a copy of Rome’s Arch of Septimus Severus, to commemorate his victories. His imperial successor, Napoleon III, continued Henri IV’s Grand Design, extending the Louvre’s two wings to the Tuileries Palace and remodeling the facades of the older buildings.
For most of the 20th century, the Louvre was a confusing maze of government offices and inaccessible galleries. In the early 1990s, Mitterrand’s Grands Projets campaign (see Life and Times) transformed the Louvre into a well-organized museum. American architect I.M. Pei came up with the idea of moving the museum’s entrance to an underground level in the Cour Napoléon, surmounted by his magnificent but controversial glass pyramid. Some saw the construction—made of 666 panes of glass—as sacrilege, others as genius, but it is now a world-renowned monument of Paris (made even more famous by its guest appearance in the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code ).
Mesopotamian Collection. The cradle of civilization, the fertile crescent, the land of epithets—Mesopotamia was also the birthplace of Western Art. The Victory Stela of Naram Sim (Room 2) is a highlight of the collection, depicting the Akkadian King ascending the heavens, trampling his enemies along the way and sporting the crown of a god. The Winged Bulls of Sargon II (Room 4) served as guardians of the king’s Assyrian palace. While modern times have delegated that kind of job to highly trained armed guards, the bulls’ massive size is still impressive. On a more historical note, Hammurabi’s Code holds center stage in Room 3. The object itself is a modest stela inscribed with 282 laws for Hammurabi's Babylonian civilization. It’s in the Louvre because it is a physical memento of the first public codified law, a democratic gesture of such importance that it’s easy to overlook the fact that dismemberment was the sentence for minor crimes like petty theft. (Richelieu; ground fl.)
Greeks, Romans, & Co. The Venus de Milo is the ultimate classical beauty, even if she is missing her arms. Located in Room 74 on the first floor, the size-14 lady is always surrounded by enthusiastic hordes of camera-waving admirers. Overlooking a nearby stairway, the Winged Victory of Samothrace proves that a head is not a prerequisite for Greek masterpieces; beware the crowds. Located on the lower ground floor of the Denon wing is a display devoted to Cycladic Art, which employed such a highly geometricized style that the sculptures and idols actually look modern. (Denon and Sully; 1st fl., ground fl., and lower ground fl.)
The Italians. Ok, fine. We know you didn’t come for the Cycladic Idols. You came for Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (Room 6), the most famous image in the world. While the lady’s mysterious smile is still charming, there is nothing mysterious or charming about the experience of looking at it in person. The crowds are fierce, the painting is hidden in a glass box that constantly reflects hundreds of camera flashes, and you won’t be allowed within 15 ft. We don’t want to be heretical, but if you’re pressed for time, you might consider skipping the lady. In the adjacent hall, an astonishing group of Renaissance masterpieces awaits—everything from Da Vinci’s Virgin on the Rocks to Raphael’s Grand Saint Michel to Fra Angelico’s Calvary. It’s an impressive bunch that outlines the rise of Humanism in the West. This wing is best visited as soon as the museum opens, as it turns into a circus within 30min. (Denon; 1st fl.)
Holland, Flanders, The Netherlands. A more civilized museum experience lies on the second floor. Vermeer’s astonishing Astronomer and Lacemaker occupy Room 38. While this resident of Delft left behind no drawings or other clues to his preparatory methods, some scholars believe that he used a camera obscura in composing his works. Indeed, one can make out subtle effects of light that could not have appeared to Vermeer’s naked eye without a little assistance. This section is also filled with works by Rembrandt, Van Eyck, and Van der Weyden, as well as a monumental 24-painting cycle by Rubens. (Richelieu; 2nd fl.)
France. It is only fitting that a French palace would be filled with French paintings. The 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century works that occupy the second floor of the Sully wing can be as fluffy and sugary as a chocolate soufflé, but don’t lose interest quite yet. Keep an eye out for Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cytheria (Room 36), a melancholy ode to the impermanence of love. La Tour’s fascination with hidden sources of light produced the haunting works that occupy Room 28. Once you’ve had your fill of peace and quiet, head back to the first floor of Denon, where the French heavyweights keep a close eye on the Mona Lisa. In Rooms 75, 76, and 77, large-format works dominate the walls. Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa, ripped straight from the headlines in 1819, depicts the Medusa’s abandoned passengers struggling to survive as they catch the attention of a passing ship. A large “X” formed by the bodies on the raft lends the painting its compositional stability, and the horrifying depiction of hunger, cannibalism, and despair packs an emotional wallop. The second most famous painting in these galleries is Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, in which Liberty, like almost everything in Western Art, is symbolized by a partially nude woman. David’s enormous paintings The Coronation of Napoleon, The Oath of the Horatii, and Sabine Women all showcase the painter’s Neoclassical style. Finally, check out Ingres’s body-twisting Grande Odalisque (go ahead, try and put your legs like that) and Delacroix’s Death of Sardanopolous. Both are examples of Orientalism, a product of France’s imperial adventures in North Africa. Within France itself, the “Orient” was imagined as a paradise of indulgence, sexually generous women, and crazy drugs. (Sully, 2nd fl.; Denon, 1st fl.)
 |
 |
 |
 |
For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
Facebook
Twitter
You Tube
Foursquare
Newsletter
RSS Feed
