Looking up La Joconde at the Louvre

The history of the Louvre goes back 800 years. To date it has 403 rooms and tens of thousands of works dating back to 8000 BC. Its a lot of rooms and exhibitions in a museum and one can be really overwhelmed by it all. So while there, we were very selective about what we wanted to see.

First we followed the signs for Le Joconde, or Mona Lisa - she of the famous but 'much interpreted and parodied enigmatic smile'. She was painted ca. 1503-1506 by Leornado da Vinci (1452-1519). I'd seen her before 40 years ago, but this time she is better placed. There was the usual crowds, but at times, you could be the only one ogling (read: really staring, but not in any way amorously!) at her. Trying to analyse that smile and really seeing if her eyes followed you around.

Just La Joconde and moi - no crowds! (2014)

Then we sought out the Coronation of Napoleon I in Notre-Dame, 1806-1807 by Jacques Louis David. David was First Painter to the Emperor and 'it fell to him to set to memory the coronation of December 2nd, 1804, during which Bonaparte became Napoleon I'. This huge 621 x 979 cm huge oil on canvas painting did not disappoint. You can look at it a long time and notice the exquisite details.

Zooming in on Napoleon I crowning his wife Josephine

Next we sought out Venus de Milo in the Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities Department. 'An aura of mystery shrouds this mutilated masterpiece, whose arms were never recovered since it exhumation in 1820 on the island of Melos (Milo in Greek), in south-western Cyclades'. The Louvre considers this sculpture the jewel of their Greek collections, and we can see why. My earliest recollection of this figure was on my pencil box in primary school!

Venus de Milo (CNB 2014)

We breezed through the other departments (Egyptian Antiquities, Near Eastern Antiquities, etc.) and went to see the exhibits in the Islamic Arts Department. I read somewhere it is the least visited section and its a shame because there are many interesting objects (nearly 3,000) there.

Some beautiful tiles of the Islamic Arts exhibits (CNB 2014)

Ref: Louvre Pocket Guide. Editions Artlys, 2013. Ex Libris CNB 2023.