Prime Attractions of Louvre Museum

The Louvre is the largest museum in Paris, and one of the most visited museums in the world. The museum has some of the greatest art galleries in the world, with more than 380,000 artifacts and of course, the Louvre houses the famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

The museum itself is an architectural beauty; the main entrance being a large glass and metal pyramid surrounded by smaller pyramids. On the inside, collections in the Louvre museum include Egyptian, Near Eastern, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities, Islamic art, sculptures, decorative arts, paintings, prints, and drawings.

The Collections of Louvre

The Egyptian Antiquities department of the Louvre has around 50,000 pieces from 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD, including large sphinx, papyrus scrolls, jewelry, games, mummies, tools, clothing, musical instruments, and weapons.

The Near Eastern section has artifacts from 1881 AD, which give an idea of the civilization before Islam. The department is divided into Levant, Persia (Iran), and Mesopotamia (Iraq) geographical areas, and contains some rare pieces from the early Persian Empire.

The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman departments are the oldest sections in the museum, displaying relics from the Neolithic civilization to the 6th century. They have various sculptures, vases, and more than one thousand potteries.

The Islamic art collection spans “thirteen centuries and three continents” and displays ceramics, wood, ivory, glass, and metal ware, along with textiles, carpet, and miniatures from the earlier Islamic period.

Sculptures and Decorative Arts

The sculpture department of the Louvre contains various pieces from the 18th century, where the decorative arts section has objects from the Middle Age to the 19th Century. The collection includes vases, bronzes, enamels, ceramics, stained glass, jewelry, maiolica, renaissance and medieval artwork, and plush tapestries.

The painting collection has more than 7,500 works masterpieces from the 13th century to 1848, and two thirds of these are works of French artists. The painting section also houses some of the great paintings of Italian masters like Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa, St. John the Baptist, Virgin and Child with St. Anne, Madonna of the Rocks, The Coronation of Napoleon, Louis XIV, and Liberty Leading the People, are some of the most admired paintings at the Louvre.