The monolithic Louvre was not always a museum. It was built during Philippe Auguste's reign, which spanned 1180 to 1223, as a fortress to protect the city from Anglo-Norman invaders. The Louvre is home to 35,000 pieces of art that are segmented into eight departments. "Near East Antiquities" focuses on ancient artifacts from Arabia, Mesopotamia and Iran, while "Egyptian Antiquities" is a cache of objects from the Prehistoric Period to the days of Cleopatra. Examples range from an expensive lotus-shaped chalice to a commonplace board game called Twenty Squares. Other classifications are "Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities," "Islamic Art," "Sculptures," "Decorative Arts," "Paintings" and "Prints and Drawings."
Some of the most famous works include Eugene Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" that honored the uprisings in 1830 in Paris; Jacques Louis David's "The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of Empress Josephine"; and Jean Clouet's "Portrait of Francis I, King of France," who was known for his various liaisons with Henry VIII and Suleiman the Great. According to DiscoverFrance.net, the Louvre reigns as the world's most visited museum, with Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" as one of the most popular paintings.
Musee du Louvre
Direction des Publics
Visites autonomes
75058 Paris cedex 01
France
011-33-01-4020-5760
louvre.fr
First opened on December 9, 1986, the Musee d'Orsay is another popular Parisian museum that focuses on Western world art created between 1848 to 1914, an era when Impressionism, Symbolism, Pointillism and Late Romanticism flourished. The museum's roots began in 1818 when King Louis XVIII founded Musee du Luxembourg, whose purpose was to display beloved works 10 years after the artist died. According to Musee-Orsay.fr, the fact that the museum was initially private gave avant-garde artists extensive freedom.
Since then, the museum has become home to such paintings as Edouard Manet's "Olympia" and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Girl at the Piano." Like the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay also houses sculpture, such as Degas' iconic "Small Dancer, Aged Fourteen" where a young ballerina stands in fifth position, hands behind her back, as if waiting for her stage debut.
Musee d'Orsay
62, rue de Lille
75343 Paris Cedex 07
France
011-33-4049-4814
musee-orsay.fr
Devoted to Auguste Rodin, the museum opened its doors in the Hotel Biron in 1919. The location was chosen since the French sculptor used the hotel as his residence starting in 1908. The museum's prizes include Rodin's "The Thinker" that was commissioned by the Museum of Decorative Arts as part of the society's display where sculptures represented various segments in Dante's "The Divine Comedy." According to Statue.com, it was originally know as "The Poet" and was meant as a symbol of Dante as the philosopher looking at the levels of Hell below him. The majority of Rodin's other sculptures sit in the museum's garden.
Musee Rodin
79, rue de Varenne
75007 Paris
France
011-33-01-4418-6110
musee-rodin.fr
