The Louvre

It has been 3 days since we went to the Louvre and I still feel like there is little I could say that would truly do it justice. At the end of this post is a mini photo tour of the weird and wonderful pieces and rooms of the Louvre.

Our time in Paris can really be divided into 3 main categories walking around, eating and art museums.

Of the three art museums we visited (Louvre, D'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou) I felt like I connected most to the art at the D'Orsay. There were a lot of very memorable pieces and the building is beautiful however just being inside the Louvre is an experience. We went on Friday when the Louvre is open for almost 13 hours 9am-9:45pm and collectively we spent around 10 hours looking at art (we took a break to get lunch and another to get a snack). 

The interior is massive and grand. The splendor of the main Hall of Paintings puts the mirrored hall of Versailles to shame. The art collection is impressive but admittedly repetitive. They have a lot of pieces well over 700,000 but because so much of art history is dominated by times where the Catholic Church dictated what could be painted the subject matter is rather limited. There are paintings of Jesus (as a baby, walking on water, the last supper, forgiving adulterers, being crucified, being resurrected, pretty much all the highlights of the bible), there is the Virgin Mary (holding baby Jesus, crying, being assumed into heaven), there is John the Baptist (as a baby, having his head cut off, baptizing). Once you have seen all of those there are paintings that I like to call "paying the bills" which is mainly painting portraits of rich people. There are a few periods of time where it was cool and retro to paint Ancient Greek mythology and in these classical works you can find by far the most interesting subject matter. (These neoclassical works are my favorite). 

Another cool thing about the Louvre is that they divide their collection based on geography and time. The Islamic art collection covered a small section of two floors and spanned over almost 2000 years of art. I have not seen a lot of Islamic art and so that was really exciting. 

The only thing I can really say is the Louvre is something you have to see for yourself to experience but I have included some of my favorite pieces and rooms below. 

The Pyramid built in 1998, main entrance to the Louvre.

One of the courtyards of the Louvre taken from a window. 

Part of the Greek Scultpure gallery.

Awesome random ceiling.

Ancient Egyptian sculpture 

It is amazing what some people can do with marble!

Hipster Jesus

Zombie Saint

Painting of an escaped zoo lion eating a baby. 

Some guy (not Jesus) in plaid underwear 

A painting done in monochrome, rather unusual. 

Small corner of one of my favorite pieces in the Louvre. One of four paintings commissioned by the same woman (we seem to have similar taste). This one is something like being thrown out of the garden of virtue. I just love the little owl faced cherubs. 

The Venus D'Milo complete with paparazzi of Asian tourists. 

An awesome couch owned by Napoleon III (They actually had his whole furnished apartment on display which was actually surprisingly cool, we were a bit skeptical after the whole Versailles thing). Anyhow I took a picture of this couch so I could one day get a replica made. 

And the one you have all been waiting for ... Sean taking a picture of me taking a picture of tourists taking a picture of the Mona Lisa. That's right she is in there somewhere. 

No no the Mona Lisa is really there see...

Just zoom.