Which pieces of art are must sees at the Louvre?

Question

i know that the museum is huge and it will probably take some time just to get inside the museum during the summer so i would like to figure out what to see before i get there except i dont know what is really there. what do people come to see? what are some recommendations besides the mona lisa of course. i only have a day to visit it.

Answer 1

MB and Rillifan have excellent suggestions.  I am also partial to the Cupid and Psyche sculpture.

Answer 2

1. Mona Lisa

2. The Virgin and Child with St Anne

3. Raft of the Medusa

4. Nike of Samothrace ("winged victory")

5. Oath of the Horatii

6. Portrait of Madame Récamier

7. La maja desnuda

8. The Aphrodite of Milos

9. The Death of Socrates

10. The Death of Marat

11. The Coronation of Napoleon in Notre Dame

12. Baldassare Castiglione (Raphael)

13. The Death of the Virgin (Caravaggio)

14. Pierrot (Jean-Antoine Watteau)

15. The Wedding at Cana

Answer 3

First, get a Paris Museum Pass, if you don't already have one. It lets you bypass the long line. We simply walked in, with no waiting at all.

Other than the things listed so far, I would highly suggest "Cupid and Psyche," which was so beautiful that I spent probably twenty minutes looking at it. There are a lot of other famous and beautiful sculptures in the same room as this one, so it really is a must-see in my opinion.

Answer 4

the last supper is in italy...

Answer 5

The italians without any doubt. They are all gathered in one corridor and there are Raphael's, Giotto's, Leonardo Da Vinci, Caravaggio and others. That's my favourite place in the museum and the paintings are amazing.

Then there are also Napoleon's Appartments, the Egyptian's, Romans and Greeks which are pretty intresting. I guess it all depends on your intrests, but you definetly have to plan the visit beforehand.

Answer 6

You have to see the MONA LISA SMILE and the LAST SUPPER :).

Answer 7

Mona Lisa and The Coronation of Napoleon by David

I love that one!

Answer 8

look at the website : www.louvre.fr

i hope it will help you .

Answer 9

I take my students on a bi-annual basis, and we only have 2 hours to see the Louvre every time (horrible, I know).

We see:

The remaining crown jewels

The Italian Renaissance (which is the Main Gallery where you can also find Mona Lisa or La Jaconde)

The Winged Victory

The Venus de Milo

The Coronation of Napoleon by David

Napoleon III's Apartments

The Egyptian Sculptures

We do some of this because of the history we cover in my classes but this is a basic overview of the Louvre.  You can do it quickly if you have a map and know what you are doing.  You will want to get there early in the morning to avoid the lines.  It is closed on Tuesday but the D'Orsay is closed on Monday so it will be packed.

Also, Michelangelo's David is in Florence and The Last Supper is in Milan so you won't see those at the Louvre.

Answer 10

The four 'main' pieces are:

The Mona Lisa

Winged Victory

Michaelangelo's David

and a large painting of Napoleon the artist of which I forget,

That said, I found every single one of those disappointing.  Especially the Mona Lisa, which is presented poorly (its a lot smaller than you think) and surrounded by crowds of people on cell phones going 'Guess what!  I'm at the Mona Lisa'.  If you look off to the sides in the same room there are better examples of DaVinci you can get closer to.

My advice would be to pick a theme or period that interests you and start there, stopping to look at anything that catches your eye along the way.  Take a different way out and do same.  I ended up spending a lot of time in sculpture, because they had some excellent greek pieces.

Answer 11

We only had a day and we got through it easily enough.  I would have wanted a little more time however. Check out the Louvre online before you go and make note of those things you feel you want to see.  I am an art and art history major.  I wanted to see it all.  You have no idea what fabulous originals are there so really every hall is spectacular.  The building is amazing by itself.  I cannot begin to describe what it feels like to see original pieces I have only studied.  While you are in Paris, also go to the Rodin Museum (The Thinker).  His works on display are fabulous and the museum was his home.  The gardens are beautiful and filled with his pieces including the Gate to h**l. Pretty amazing stuff.

Answer 12

The Mona Lisa is a must see