There are said to be 38,000 works of art on display in the Louvre in Paris, so it’s sort of like the internet or the Frankfurt Book Fair — you can’t possibly see them all, so you have to navigate to see what you want, or take potluck. And don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by the sheer masses of fantastic artworks! My lead photo shows room 39 on the second floor of the Richelieu wing, where Dutch masterpieces from the second half of the 17th century are on display.
Rialto Bridge by Canaletto
Le Pont du Rialto (Rialto Bridge in Venice) by Antonio Canal, aka CANALETTO (1697- 1768), in hall C on the second floor of the Sully wing.
Seaport at night by Joseph Vernet
La nuit ; un port de mer au clair de lune (The night, a seaport by moonlight), painted in 1771 by Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), is on display in room 52 on the second floor of the Sully wing.
(Joseph Vernet’s son, grandson and great-grandson also became well-known painters during their lifetimes. See my post on the Calvet Museum in Avignon.)
Gallery of Apollo in the Louvre
The Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) was restored at the beginning of the 21st century. This involved three years of work, which was funded by a corporate sponsor. The gallery is in hall 66 on the first floor of the Denon wing.
My photos in this post are from 2008 — from 08.08.08, to be more precise.
I revised the text in 2022.
See more posts on the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Good advice on how to make it manageable. 🤓
You’re right. The Louvre is massive. We always plan what we want to see on a particular visit, head straight to that section and enjoy it. Then we wander until we’re tired and head out to lunch. There are a couple things we always visit, like the sculpture gallery and Ed loves his Dutch masters. I love to watch the little kids in the Louvre. They are always carrying some tablet or paper and looking for very specific things. Seems like a great idea.
From your mention of lunch, I take it you go to the Louvre in the mornings. I think that’s a good idea, but somehow I seldom manage to actually do it.
We like to open museums. It’s not quite as crowded. We’re both morning people and wish things opened earlier. I understand why they don’t though. No one would be there. Afternoons are for wandering through odd places where there aren’t so many people. We usually enjoy a 2-1/2 or 3 hour lunch which cuts down afternoon time. It gives us a chance to talk about what we’ve seen in the morning since no matter how well we plan, we’re always find something unexpected.
Any museum I go to, I figure out before I go what I want to see. A good way to pick is what is the museum particularly known for. And see that. Normally I’d go see French painters in a museum in France, and Spanish painters in a museum in Spain. But sometimes I just like a particular painter. My grandchildren seem to favor Van Gogh. I like the impressionists and Turner, and also for some reason Bruegel. But when I visited the Louvre a couple of years ago, I concentrated on the pre-Impressionists because the Impressionists wouldn’t be the Louvre’s forte
Yes, the impressionists are mainly across the river in the Orsay Museum.
Rosalie, you have to go across the river to the Orsay to see the Impressionists.
I did that the next day
That’s great. Have you been to the Marmottan-Monet yet? Huge Monet collection and beautifully exhibited.
No I haven’t been to that one. I did the Louvre and then my granddaughter and I did l’Orangerie and the Orsay, and that was it for museums on that trip.
Very good advice for handling all large museums
For small museums, it’s easier: just start in room 1 and take them in order.
Exactly
Definitely the only sensible way to tackle a large museum. I think it’s a bit like visiting a large country. You can’t expect to see everything in a short visit and if you try you’ll end up not properly seeing anything! Having said that, perhaps surprisingly on my (at least) seven visits to Paris I’ve never yet been inside the Louvre! Maybe this year …
By all means book tickets online, and check their website to see which entrance(s) are open in real time. If you have a choice, take Carrousel or Porte de Lions, not the pyramide. If it’s raining, take Carrousel if it’s open, so you can at least queue indoors. (Porte de Lion has no lockers and is closed on Fridays. The Richelieu entrance used to be my favorite, but it is currently only for groups.)
Thanks for the tips!
That Gallery of Apollo is wonderful. Reminds me of Versailles 🙂
Le Louvre is one of the most beautiful place in Paris I like to visit regularly.