Tour Features

Itinerary

• 1st stop

  The Louvre Pyramid

  Our visit starts outside, at the glass pyramid that I. M. Pei placed in the main courtyard in 1989. It is worth a moment before we go in: the structure is built from hundreds of glass panes and metal bars, and it has become the modern symbol of a palace four centuries older. From here we walk down into the entrance hall and begin the route.

• 2nd stop

  The Medieval Louvre

  Beneath the palace, the museum keeps the remains of its earliest life as a fortress. We walk along the base of the medieval walls, past the towers and the dry moat that once protected the city, and we read the change in the stone: heavy defensive masonry below, decorated royal apartments above. It is the clearest place in the Louvre to see what the building was before it became a museum.

• 3rd stop

  The Great Sphinx of Tanis

  The Egyptian rooms hold one of the oldest works in the collection. The Great Sphinx of Tanis, carved from a single block of granite, carries inscriptions added by several pharaohs over the centuries, and its face is worn by time. We look at the lion's body, the human head, and the details that reveal how the sculpture was reused and reinscribed long after it was first made.

• 4th stop

  Venus de Milo

  The Venus de Milo reached the Louvre in 1821, after it was found on the island of Milos in the Cyclades. Her arms are missing, and that absence has kept the statue at the center of discussion for two centuries. We look at the twist of the body, the fall of the drapery, and the softness the sculptor managed to keep in marble.

• 5th stop

  The Winged Victory of Samothrace

  We climb the Daru staircase to meet the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a Hellenistic goddess landing on the prow of a warship. The wind is carved into the fabric: the drapery clings to her body and streams behind her. Found on Samothrace in 1863, the sculpture has stood in this position since 1884 and is one of the most theatrical moments in the museum.

• 6th stop

  The Galerie d'Apollon

  The Galerie d'Apollon was rebuilt after a fire in 1661 as a hall for the Sun King, and the decoration leaves no doubt about its purpose: gilded stucco, allegories of the sun, and the French crown jewels displayed under glass. We walk its full length and look at how the court turned a gallery into a statement of power.

• 7th stop

  The Mona Lisa

  The Mona Lisa is the reason many guests come to the Louvre, and we arrive prepared. We look at what Leonardo painted, who Lisa Gherardini was, and why the missing eyebrows and the landscape behind her still occupy researchers. The room is always busy, so our guide times the stop and uses the time well.

• 8th stop

  The Wedding at Cana

  The last stop is the largest painting in the room: The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese, a banquet of more than a hundred figures painted for a Venetian monastery refectory. We look for the musicians, the animals, and the small details Veronese placed to reward a long look. It is a generous way to close a visit to the Louvre.

Tour Details