Photos

Early in the morning on wednesday 22.7, I went by metro to the station of Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. It was a tip in the Lonely Planet France to go to the museum trough the metro station to avoid the line at the main entrance by the pyramid. There was a bit of a line for tickets at the counter though there as well, but it went pretty fast, and I could by tickets for the Musée d´Orsay at the same time.

Musée du Louvre is the national museum of France and is housed in the Palais du Louvre. It is an enormous museum where 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century are exhibited. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings.

It has been said that it would take nine months (!) to have look at every piece of art in the collection, so you just have to choose some part of the museum, and leave the rest for another visit. I decided to go for the Mona Lisa first, and went to the Denon wing on the 1st floor. On my way to the most famous painting in the world, I passed all the french and italian paintings from the 13th – 15th century.  I must say the sight of these masterpieces hanging on the walls of this amazing palace is quite impressing. All though I was at the museum when it opened, the place was already packed with people. When I arrived at the Mona Lisa, there was a big crowd in front of it taking pictures. Pictures of Mona Lisa, of themselves with Mona Lisa, of their mother,sister, girlfriend with the Mona Lisa… puh… What a fuzz there is over this painting.  It is quite small, and to be looked at from a bit of a distance since there is a rope holding you back. I think it is hard to point out the superior greatness of this painting to the others of the same time. I had a few other favourites.

From there I went on to the Napoleon III apartments in the Richilieu wing. The rooms are an explosion of gold, crystal and velvet. The Louvre was still being added to by Napoleon III. The new wing of 1852-1857, represents the Second Empire‘s version of Neo-baroque. Oh I wish I could close my eyes and when I´d open them I would see how people were moving around in these incredibly pompous surroundings. I am thinking the same thing walking around in the streets of Paris. The beauty of the architecture inevitably diminishes somewhat in combination with the signs, traffic and trash of the modern times.  

Photos from the Louvre