Famous masterpieces of the Louvre. The transformation of the palace into a museum

The world-famous Louvre Museum attracts millions of tourists every year. The works of the Louvre are a superbly composed collection that allows you to trace the entire history of art. There are undeniable masterpieces here that every person who claims to be an educated person should know and see at least once in their life.

Founding of the Louvre

On August 10, 1793, one of the major museums peace - the Louvre. The idea of ​​creating a public museum with a display arose after the French Revolution, when it was decided to put royal valuables on public display. From the day of the revolution, the national government began to confiscate art from the aristocracy, thus the beginning of the museum's collection was laid. For several years, it has been collected a large number of valuables, a spacious building was needed for their exposition, which became

Louvre building

The works of the Louvre required a lot of space, and the eyes of the organizers of the museum turned to a large empty palace in the middle of Paris. This building has a long history. The heart of the Louvre is big tower built in 1190. Its purpose was purely utilitarian - from a height, the approaching Vikings were monitored. In 1317, Charles V made the castle his residence, and the treasury of Paris moved here. Over the years of operation, the old tower fell into disrepair and was demolished, especially since the castle lost its defensive function and became a royal dwelling. Francis I in 1546 entrusted this work to Pierre Lescaut. Before him was the task of rebuilding the fortress, making it a real palace. The designer proposes to build a square courtyard, three sides of which are decorated with luxurious chambers, and the fourth one is an open exit to the city center. During the lifetime of the architect, only the western wing, which today bears his name, was completed. His project was realized by 1555 and became a luxurious example of Renaissance architecture. in 1594, Henry the Fourth decided that the Louvre should be connected to the Louvre. In the years 1655-1670, Louis Prevost expands the palace and quadruples it. Under Louis the Fourteenth, the eastern facade is formed by a colonnade, it attracts many famous European architects, but in 1682 it cools down to the project and transfers the residence to Versailles. For almost a hundred years, the Louvre has been empty, decaying, and there are even ideas of its demolition. Louis XV thought about creating a museum in the palace, his idea was realized after the revolution.

Under Napoleon the First, the north facade was rebuilt, and in 1853 the whole Louvre complex was completed. In 1891, the appearance of the palace, which we see today, was formed. The last significant architectural restructuring happened in 1989, when the American architect Yo Ming Pei built a glass pyramid in the courtyard - the main entrance to the museum.

Louvre collections: history and principles of creation

The first works of the Louvre began to be collected under Louis the Fourteenth, who, in the spirit of his time, began to create an art collection. The collection was based on paintings bought by Francis the First. Louis XIV buys a large collection of paintings (200 canvases) from the banker Zhabakh. The king is constantly looking for an opportunity to replenish his collection. He increased the fund of the future museum to 2500 canvases, acquired various art objects. After the revolution, the museum collection begins to replenish with confiscated valuables. The Fund of the Sculpture Museum is transferred to the Louvre. During the Napoleonic campaigns of conquest, the funds of the Louvre were actively replenished at the expense of trophies, at the expense of archaeological excavations in Egypt and the East. Also, the management of the museum, having its own funds, is working on the selection and purchase of art objects. The collection is not formed spontaneously, the choice of works is determined artistic value only masterpieces go to the Louvre. Many important collectors bequeath their collections to the Louvre. So, in 1936, the museum received a gift of a collection of drawings by Baron Edmond Rothschild in the amount of more than 45 thousand exhibits. Also great attention given to the formation of a collection of French national art. Today, the Louvre has about 400 exhibits, and the collection continues to grow. In connection with the growth of funds at the end of the 20th century, an active redistribution of works of art between the museums of France begins. The Louvre limited its collection to the date 1848, and all later canvases went to other collections.

Today, the collection of the museum is conditionally divided into groups: the art of the Ancient East, Ancient Egypt, the ancient world, Islamic art, painting, graphics, arts and crafts.

Art of the Ancient World

Most of the museum's funds are objects ancient art. The works of the Louvre in the Department of Ancient Art are represented by several regions. A huge part of the collection is made up of items found during excavations in Egypt, this is the famous figure of Ramses II, the Sitting Cat sculptures, sphinxes, sarcophagi, ceramics, jewelry and much more, including wall paintings, bas-reliefs, interior elements. The art of the Ancient East is represented by collections of art objects from the cultures of Mesopotamia, Iran, and the Mediterranean.

Masterpieces of ancient sculpture

The basis of the sculpture collection was the acquisitions of Louis XIV. Today at museum collection there are true masterpieces such as "Venus de Milo" - a sculpture that attracts a lot of visitors. Often, tourists come to the Louvre just to see this masterpiece. Another significant work of antiquity is the sculpture "Nike of Samothrace", which was found and brought to Paris by the French archaeologist Champoiseau. The Roman period is represented by a huge number of statues, bas-reliefs, pedestals. Courtyard of ancient sculpture in the Louvre, flooded with sun through the glass roof, allows you to immerse yourself in a world of harmony and perfection.

Legacy of Leonardo da Vinci

A special attraction for tourists and art lovers is the painting "Mona Lisa". Many people come to the museum solely to see her mysterious smile. But besides this, the Louvre can be proud of four more works by the great master. No less significant, but slightly less famous, is the work "Madonna in the Rocks". This work, created in the 80s of the 15th century, has been in the royal collection since 1625. It is distinguished by an excellently written landscape behind the backs of the characters, here the author tries the techniques that he will later fully apply when writing the Mona Lisa. "Madonna in the Rocks" is the first version of the work on this subject, the second version is in London Museum. Also, the Louvre is rightfully proud of such works as "Portrait of a Young Woman", "Madonna and Child and St. Anna" and "John the Baptist".

Masterpieces of world classics

The Louvre is one of them, and its glory, of course, is made up of masterpieces of a planetary scale. These include, first of all, the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci, but also here you can see the landmark work of Theodore Gericault "The Raft of the Medusa", several works by Jacques David, in particular, "The Coronation of Napoleon". The rare work of I. Bosch "Ship of Fools" is also a pearl of the museum collection. The Louvre is the happy owner of paintings by S. Botticelli, Raphael Santi, H. Memling, A. Dürer and many other authors. In the sculpture department, two works by Michelangelo are undoubted hits: "The Dying Slave" and "The Risen Slave".

french art

The collection of national art in the Louvre represents all periods and types of creativity. There are many masterpieces in the collection, for example, Eugene Delacroix's painting "Liberty Leading the People" belongs to them. It accurately conveys the mood that prevailed in the country during the Revolution. She became a symbol of the Republic. The plastic art of the country is represented, among other things, by the figure of a Greek athlete made of marble. “Milon of Croton with a lion” is a significant work of the French sculptor Pierre Puget in the style of ancient masters. The work amazes with expressiveness and power of emotions. "Milo of Croton with a lion" shows a scene of incredible human suffering, the strength of the athlete and his spirit.

Graphic arts

The graphic collection of the Louvre has more than 130 thousand exhibits. Tourists mostly do not reach these halls, true connoisseurs of beauty come here. After all, the Louvre collection has a lot of books, drawings, prints of the best authors in the world. Including drawings by H. Rembrandt, J. Chardin, E. Delacroix.

Arts and Crafts

The collection of arts and crafts is a special pride of the museum. Items of decoration, jewelry, costumes, utensils from different eras are presented in several rooms of the Louvre. First of all, the apartments of Napoleon III attract attention. Here is the complete furnishings and decoration of the main hall in the style of Louis the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth. Here you can see luxurious furniture, dishes, interior items. But the museum also owns excellent examples of weapons and jewelry from the Restoration and the reign of Napoleon the First. Of great interest is the collection of utensils, decor items and jewelry from the Gothic, Baroque, Italian and French Renaissance. The collection of furniture in the Louvre is one of the best in the world.

What to see

To see all the exhibits of the Louvre, even a few months will not be enough, and if you examine carefully, even several years. But, when there is no way to devote so much time to the museum, then you need to think over the route and answer the question: what can not be missed? There is a designed tour of the Louvre that will allow you to see the most important thing. For hurrying tourists in the museum, the main masterpieces are placed in the first halls at the entrance, and there are special signs so as not to get lost. But some works worthy of attention are placed in the relevant sections, for example, the painting by Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the People" is in the collection of French art. Therefore, you need to navigate according to the scheme of the museum and find the right room. Schemes are issued at the entrance for free in several languages, including Russian.

In order not to get lost in the vast space and see the most important thing, you can use a special list of the main masterpieces, which include: the statue "Venus de Milo", the sculpture of antiquity - "Nick of Samothrace", the paintings "Great Odalisque" by J. Ingres and "The Lacemaker" by J. Vermeer, the work of Leonardo da Vinci, a statue of Ramses II.

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To be in Paris and not look into the Louvre is just a crime. Any tourist will tell you that. But if you haven’t prepared in advance, then you run the risk of getting lost among the crowd of people with cameras, tablets and smartphones and missing the most important thing for which the whole world seeks to visit the largest Parisian museum.

The Louvre is huge and beautiful. It will not be possible to enjoy all its exhibits even in one day - there are more than 300,000 of them. In order not to get an aesthetic shock from a glut of beautiful things, one has to make a choice. website decided to make it easy for you.

So why go to the Louvre? First of all, of course, for the Gioconda.

"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci

"La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci is the main exhibit of the Louvre. All museum signs lead to this painting. Great amount people come to the Louvre every day to see with their own eyes the bewitching smile of the Mona Lisa. Nowhere except the Louvre, you can not see it. Due to the poor condition of the painting, the museum management announced that they would no longer give it to exhibitions.

The Mona Lisa might not have been so popular and world famous if it had not been stolen by a Louvre worker in 1911. The picture was found only 2 years later, when the thief tried to sell it in Italy. All this time, while the investigation was going on, the Mona Lisa did not leave the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world, becoming an object of copying and worship.

Today, the Mona Lisa is hidden behind bulletproof glass, with barricades holding back the crowds of tourists. Interest in one of the most famous and mysterious works of art in the world does not fade away.

Venus de Milo

The second star of the Louvre is a white marble statue of the goddess of love Aphrodite. The famous ancient ideal of beauty, created in 120 BC. e. The growth of the goddess is 164 cm, the proportions are 86 × 69 × 93.

According to one version, the hands of the goddess were lost at the time of the conflict between the French, who wanted to take her to their country, and the Turks - the owners of the island where she was discovered. Experts assure that the hands of the statue were beaten off long before it was discovered. However locals islands of the Aegean believe in another beautiful legend.

One famous sculptor was looking for a model to create a statue of the goddess Venus. He heard a rumor about a woman of extraordinary beauty from the island of Milos. The artist rushed there, found the beauty and fell head over heels in love with her. Having received consent, he set to work. On the day when the masterpiece was almost ready, unable to contain the passion any longer, the sculptor and the model threw themselves into each other's arms. The girl pressed the sculptor to her chest so tightly that he suffocated and died. And the sculpture remained without both hands.

The Raft of the Medusa Theodore Géricault

Today, the painting by Theodore Géricault is one of the gems of the museum. Although after the death of the artist in 1824, representatives of the Louvre were not ready to pay a decent amount for it, and a close friend of the artist bought the painting at auction.

During the life of the author, the canvas caused indignation and indignation: how dare the artist use such a large format not for the heroic or religious plot accepted at that time, but for depicting a real event.

The plot of the picture is based on an incident that happened on July 2, 1816 off the coast of Senegal. The frigate "Medusa" was wrecked, and 140 people tried to escape on a raft. Only 15 of them survived and 12 days later they were picked up by the Argus brig. The details of the survivors' voyage - murders, cannibalism - shocked society and turned into a scandal.

Gericault combined in one picture hope and despair, the living and the dead. Before depicting the latter, the artist made numerous sketches of the dying in hospitals and the corpses of the executed. The Raft of the Medusa was the last of Géricault's completed works.

Nike of Samothrace

Another pride of the museum is a marble sculpture of the goddess of victory. Researchers believe that an unknown sculptor created Nike in the 2nd century BC as a sign of Greek naval victories.

The sculpture is missing its head and arms, and the right wing is a reconstruction, a plaster copy of the left wing. Repeatedly tried to restore the hands of the statue, but to no avail - they all spoiled the masterpiece. The statue was losing the feeling of flight and swiftness, an unstoppable striving forward.

Initially, Nika stood on a sheer cliff above the sea, and her pedestal depicted the prow of a warship. Today, the statue is located on the second floor of the Louvre on the stairs to the Daru of the Denon Gallery and is visible from afar.

The Coronation of Napoleon Jacques Louis David

Art connoisseurs go to the Louvre to see monumental paintings live french artist Jacques Louis David's "Oath of the Horatii", "The Death of Marat" and a grandiose canvas depicting the coronation of Napoleon.

The full title of the painting is “Dedication of the Emperor Napoleon I and the coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris December 2, 1804." David chose the moment when Napoleon crowns Josephine, and Pope Pius VII gives him his blessing.

The painting was commissioned by Napoleon I himself, who wanted everything to look better on it than it actually was. Therefore, he asked David to depict his mother, who was not at the coronation, in the very center of the picture, to make himself a little taller, and Josephine a little younger.

"Cupid and Psyche" by Antonio Canova

There are two versions of the sculpture. The Louvre houses the first version, donated to the museum in 1800 by the husband of Napoleon's sister, Joachim Murat. The second, later version, is in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. It was presented to the museum by Prince Yusupov, who acquired the masterpiece in Rome in 1796.

The sculpture depicts the god Cupid at the moment of awakening Psyche from his kiss. In the catalog of the Louvre, the sculptural group is called "Psyche Awakened by Cupid's Kiss". Italian sculptor Antonio Canova was inspired to create a masterpiece ancient greek myths about the god of love Cupid and Psyche, whom the Greeks considered the personification of the human soul.

The Louvre is unique museum complex, one of the largest in the world. The expositions occupy 58,470 square meters, and the total area of ​​the museum is 160,106 m². The history of the Louvre is rich in events, spanning approximately 700 years. Initially, it was a fortress, which was later transformed into a royal palace.

The Louvre was founded in the 12th century by Philippe Augustus (King of France). Since its founding, the Louvre has undergone numerous rebuildings and renovations. All the French kings, who did not even live permanently in the Louvre, tried to bring something new to the appearance of the building.

For King Philip-August, the Louvre was a fortress, the main task which consisted in protecting the western approaches to Paris, so the Louvre was a powerful building with a central tower.

Under the reign of Charles V, the fortress was turned into a royal residence. It was this king who initiated the reconstruction of the fortress into a building that would be suitable for the king's stay. The idea was implemented by the architect Reymond de Templelu, who also took care of the reliable protection of the king, surrounding the building with powerful fortress walls.

Approximately to late XVIII century, all the work on the construction of the Louvre was successfully completed.

The museum received its first visitors in November 1793. At first, the main source of replenishment of the Louvre funds were the royal collections collected by Francis I, Louis XIV. At the time of the founding of the museum, the collection already consisted of 2,500 paintings.

To date, the Louvre has 350,000 exhibits, some of which are kept in storage.

Schedule:
Monday - 9:00-17:30
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - 9:00-21:30
Thursday - 9:00-17:30
Friday - 9:00-21:30
Saturday - 9:00-17:30
Sunday - 9:00-17:30

Official website of the museum: louvre.fr

Most Parisians consider the Louvre to be their biggest attraction. But the glass pyramid, designed by American architect of Chinese origin Yeo Ming Peo, according to the townspeople, does not really fit with the Renaissance palace. This building has the same parameters as Egyptian pyramid Cheops. It creates a feeling of space and light, and also plays the role of the main entrance to the museum.

Story

Historically, the architecture of the Louvre has always combined many styles. This was started by King Philip Augustus, who built a defensive fortress on the western border side of Paris in the 12th century. For one thing, she served as a repository of the royal archives and treasury.

Further, under King Charles the Fifth, it was transformed into royal apartments. The architects of the Renaissance period rebuilt the palace ensemble, striving to fulfill the virtually impossible goal of satisfying the tastes of two kings: Francis the First and Henry the Fourth, whose statue now stands on the New Bridge. The main part of the fortress wall was destroyed and a huge gallery was built that connected the Louvre with the Tuileries Palace, which still existed at that time.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Henry the Fourth, who had great sympathy for art, invited the artists to live in the palace. He promised them spacious halls for workshops, dwellings and the rank of palace painters.

Louis XIV practically put an end to the prestige of the Louvre as the residence of kings. He moved to Versailles, along with the entire court, and artists, sculptors and architects settled in the Louvre. Among them were Jean-Honore Fragonard, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Guillaume Coustout. That's when the Louvre fell into such decline that they began to make plans for its demolition.

At the end French Revolution The Louvre was named Central Museum arts. At the same time, Napoleon the Third will realize what Henry the Fourth dreamed of - the Richelieu wing was attached to the Louvre. It became a mirror image of the Hauts-Borde-de-l'Eau gallery. But the Louvre did not become symmetrical at all for a long time - during the time of the Paris Commune, the Tuileries Palace burned down, and with it the solid part of the Louvre.

Collection

Today, the Louvre is more than 350 thousand works of art, and approximately 1,600 employees who organize the functioning of the museum. The collection is located in three wings of the building: along Rivoli street there is the Richelieu wing; the Denon wing runs parallel to the Seine and a square courtyard surrounds the Sully wing.

Ancient East and Islam. The halls display objects of ancient art from the Persian Gulf to the Bosphorus, in particular Mesopotamia, the Levant and Persia.

The Louvre's collection contains over 55,000 pieces of ancient Egyptian art. The exposition demonstrates the results of the crafts of the ancient Egyptians - stuffed animals, papyri, sculptures, talismans, paintings and mummies.

Art Ancient Greece, Etruscans and Ancient Rome. This is the fruit creative search in the reconstruction of man and a special vision of beauty. Actually, it is these halls that present the main sculptural assets of the Louvre - those that museum visitors usually want to see in the first place. These are the statues of Apollo and Venus de Milo, dating back to the hundredth year BC, as well as the statue of Nike of Samothrace, which was found in the form of 300 fragments a thousand years after its creation.

Decorative and applied arts are presented on the second floor. You will see all sorts of objects: the throne of Napoleon the First and unique tapestries, miniatures, porcelain and jewelry, fine bronze and even royal crowns.

The basement and first floors of the Richelieu Wing and the Denon Wing are occupied by an extensive collection of French sculptures, as well as a small number of exhibits from Italy, Holland, Germany, and Spain. Among them are two works by the great Michelangelo, which are called "The Slave".

The Louvre houses one of the world's largest collections of paintings, and of course, the French school is represented in the museum in the most comprehensive way.

Mona Lisa

The main work that tourists want to see first of all is the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) by Leonardo da Vinci. This painting is located in the Denon wing, in a separate small room - Sal des Eta, which can only be accessed from the Grand Gallery.

This room was built recently, specifically to make it convenient for tourists to view the most recognizable painting in the world without bumping into each other, although it is kept behind two layers of glass.

The painting was painted over 500 years ago and was da Vinci's favorite work. There is an opinion that Leonardo painted a self-portrait in women's clothing, and it combines two principles - yin and yang. If you look Mona Lisa in the eyes, then the chin is in the distant zone of vision, which gives the impression of an elusive smile. And if you look at the lips, then the smile disappears in this and its mystery lies.

Despite its grandeur, the Gioconda itself is even smaller in size than its reproductions in the souvenir shops of the Louvre.

Someone visits the capital of France on business or for the sake of expensive boutiques, someone is looking for entertainment, and someone is attracted by its amazing architecture, history and art. The Louvre Museum in Paris has become a place of pilgrimage for millions of people who come from the most remote corners of the world to see its treasures with their own eyes. It harmoniously combines the past with the present, and even the Louvre Pyramid - the structure of our days, resonates in the hearts of travelers no less than the mysterious painting of Mona Lisa.

The versatility of the Musée du Louvre

The Louvre Museum rightfully bears the title of the most popular and largest art museum, covering an area of ​​160,106 sq. m (under exhibitions 58 470 sq. m). If we continue to rely on the numbers, then the number of visits per year looks impressive - more than 9 million people.

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Where is the Louvre?

The Louvre is located in the central part of the city on the right bank of the Seine along Rivoli Avenue in the building of the former royal palace, located between the temple of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerroy and the Tuileries Garden. Next to it stands a monument, where Louis XIV flaunts on a frisky horse, from which the main historical axis of Paris originates.

The museum has collected in its halls an incredible number of relics representing not only the past eras of Europe, but also the culture of other countries: Egypt and Greece, the Middle East and Iran, Africa, Oceania and America.

The Louvre shares its collections with other museums that present works of art in a certain way (primitivism, ancient religion, modern direction, impressionism and post-impressionism, etc.). Paintings, sculptures and other artifacts can be admired in the walls of Orsay, the Quai Branly and Guimet Museum, as well as in the branches of the Louvre, located in the industrial French city of Lance and in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

What does "Louvre" mean?

Undoubtedly, the name of the palace sounds beautiful, but it became interesting for etymologists to get to the bottom of its origin. Several versions have been in development, and the most popular are three:

• For the construction was chosen a place called "Lupara" (Lupara). However, it was not possible to find out where this term came from, but there is an assumption that it comes from the Latin “lupus” (lupus), which means “lupus”. Today, this is the name of the disease, but during the time of Philip-August, who ruled France at the border of the XII-XIII centuries, the name could mean the abode of wolves.
• Closer to the truth is the second version of the origin of the name, according to which “lauer” or “lower” in Old French means “watchtower”.
• Another plausible theory was put forward by the 17th-century historian A. Soval, who believed that the derivatives are words of non-Latin origin "leower ou lower, leovar, lovar or lover", meaning "fort", "fortification".

But if the origin of the word arouses curiosity, then the history of the palace itself is much longer and more exciting, leading to beginning of XII century, when the Crusades and the hunt for heretics were in full swing.

History of the Louvre

In 1190, setting out on another military campaign with Richard the Lionheart (who was also called Richard Yes-and-No for his tendency to change his mind under the influence of his interlocutor), King Phillip II Augustus, in order not to leave his lands to be torn to pieces by greedy relatives (especially the Plantagenet dynasty) and other applicants, founded the construction of a fortress barrier with towers.

The construction took 20 years, and as a result, two walls appeared on both sides of the Seine - Nelskaya and Louvre. In front of the latter, a castle grew, which later became the royal palace. Gradually, the Louvre turned into an impregnable fort with dozens of towers, radically different from the current luxurious building. Stone walls 2.5 m thick were hung with loopholes, bristling with high battlements, and around them ran a water moat with high cut banks.

In those days, the royal castle was located in the west of the island of Cite, and the new fortress became the repository of the treasury, the military arsenal, and served as a prison. Only under Charles V did the status of the structure change, and from a defensive bastion it gradually transformed into a cozy and beautiful nest.

Change of priorities - from dull dullness to lush decoration

For the convenience of the royal family, luxurious apartments with residential buildings and grand staircases were arranged here. Windows had to be pierced in the walls, and chimneys and pretty pinnacles grew on the roof. A huge collection of books was also transported here, and 973 volumes laid the foundation for the royal library.

However, only from 1546, under Francis I, the Louvre became the official royal residence. To ennoble it, they invited the architect Pierre Lesko and the master of sculptures - Jean Goujon, who gave the building a look in the spirit of the Renaissance period. The architect worked on the southwestern wing of the so-called Square Courtyard.

He managed to combine exquisite facets, strict combinations of verticals and horizontals with the richness and sophistication of sculptures so skillfully that the Lescaut wing is today recognized as an unsurpassed creation of French Renaissance architecture. It is located near the left side of the exit of the Square Courtyard, adjacent to the Napoleonic Courtyard.

In 1564, the “black” Queen Catherine de Medici, who was forever remembered for having provoked Bartholomew night. Her idea was with a garden on land adjacent to the Louvre. So she planned to always stay close to the ruling sons of the country, helping them with wise advice and instructions.

Fresh forms of architecture and gallery of masters

In 1589, after a long struggle for power, Henry IV sat on the French throne and immediately proceeded to the “Great Project” he had conceived. He removes the remains of medieval buildings in order to expand the internal patio and connects the Louvre and the Tuileries with the help of the Grand Gallery of 210 meters.

The architects Louis Metezo and Jacques Androuet worked on the project, giving the lower floor for workshops and all sorts of shops, and under the Red Cardinal Richelieu, a printing house with a mint worked here. IN XVII century the Louvre Gallery sheltered masters who were not included in the family of legal workshops.

The royal decree stated that its territory should be equipped in such a way as to meet the needs of the great magicians in the field of painting, sculpture, jewelry and watchmaking, the creation of edged weapons, perfumery, carpet and oriental art, production of physical instruments and pipes for fountains.

In fact, these masters worked under the warm and cozy wing of the monarch. Not belonging to any official school, they could produce goods, freely sell them without reporting to the workshops, and also train their own students.

This incredibly angered the shopkeepers, who could not do anything about it, and from impotence declared that real and honest representatives of their business would never agree to work at the Louvre. Naturally, these loud statements had no force.

While the official guilds gloated, the craftsmen working in the gallery of the royal palace prospered, creating beautiful examples of luxury. Moreover, representatives of any nationality could work here, and Turks with their famous painted carpets, Dutch cutters, many Italians and Flemings, along with other representatives of nations, coexisted on a huge square.

In 1620, the architect Jean Lemercier implemented a personal project for the construction of the main building of the Square Courtyard - the pavilion of the Clock, which had three arched passages.

Since there was too little space, he proposed to quadruple the territory, but they could only fulfill the idea during the reign of Louis, the “Sun King”, the next in a row.

With the advent of a new owner, big changes are always coming. Louis XIV was no exception, and enthusiastically took up the improvement of the heritage, taking into account individual taste.

Old buildings were demolished, territories were enlarged, new buildings were built, and the Eastern Colonnade became a distinctive feature of this time period.

The architect Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini from Italy generally proposed a radical solution - to completely destroy the building and build a completely new one in its place, corresponding to the spirit of the current era. In this one can see an irresistible thirst to further glorify his name during his lifetime and forever inscribe it in the tablets of history, since he proposed his own plan to implement the idea.

His idea was taken with hostility by other architects and courtiers of the monarch, and therefore it was not destined to come true. But other architects, using the favorite tool of the French court, namely intrigue and bribery, ensured that their plans for the restructuring of the building found a positive response.

After the construction of the Eastern Colonnade in 1680, the king got tired of the capital and the Louvre, and moved with his entire entourage to. But the gallery of the palace continued to grow. More and more craftsmen aspired here, and the old-timers gradually expanded the working offices. For example, metal carver, ebonist and gilder André-Charles Boulle created a family business with his four sons, installing 18 machines in the workshop, on which objects were carved from ebony.

He created individual parts and then assembled them together, producing bureaus and other pieces of furniture, decorated with mosaics and delicate brass elements; exquisite watch cases; colored wood bookcases with built-in mirrors; chic chandeliers; paperweight.

The transformation of the palace into a museum

The idea of ​​turning the royal palace into a museum was discussed as early as the 18th century under Louis XV. The process that began under him ended with the French Revolution.

For the first time the halls of the Louvre received the first visitors in August 1793.

Further, Napoleon I took care of it, and during the First Empire it bore the name "Napoleon Museum". The baton then passed Napoleon III, at which all work on the next restructuring was completed, and architectural ensemble the northern wing appeared, stretching along Rivoli Avenue.

But this did not become the final reincarnation of the Louvre. This happened in 1871, when the fire that destroyed the Tuileries during the siege of the Paris Commune was over.

And a relatively recent innovation was the Louvre Pyramid, completely assembled from glass.

Its prototype is the Pyramid of Cheops (Giza) - the largest of the currently known in Egypt. The weight of the glass copy is approximately 180 tons, the height is 21.65 m, the length of the base is 35 m and the angle of inclination is 52 degrees, and the structure itself consists of 70 triangular and 603 diamond-shaped parts.

It is surrounded by small fountains and three smaller pyramidal figures that serve as illumination. The ensemble was designed by Claude Angle, an American architect with Chinese roots. Construction was carried out in 1985-1989, and at first caused an uproar, which is quite natural for Paris.

Today, it is quite difficult to imagine the Louvre without a glass structure that serves as an entrance with ticket offices, especially after the release of D. Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, in which the author decided to put Mary Magdalene to rest, as a symbol of the Holy Grail, in an inverted part of the structure.

There is another entertaining version, according to which Francois Mitterrand, the French president of the period when the construction of the structure was completed, rests at the bottom of the pyramid.

She attracts creative people, and one day street artist JR, famous for his voluminous works, decided to impress the residents of the capital and tourists with an unusual illusion. On reverse side The building of the ball has a black-and-white photograph of the palace in its real size with an exact repetition of all the details. From a certain angle, the photograph perfectly matched the architecture of the building, while making the pyramid disappear, as if dissolving into thin air.

Building collections

The initial 2,500 exhibits in the exhibition halls were collections of paintings belonging to Francis I and Louis XIV. The latter bought 200 paintings from the banker E. Jabach, and the legendary "La Gioconda" by Leonardo and Raphael's "Beautiful Gardener" were once acquired by Francis I along with the rest of the collection, owned by da Vinci himself, but sold when his earthly days ended.

The Louvre Museum in Paris collected its treasures in different ways. Some were transferred here from other stores, some were donated during the life of the owners or bequeathed after their death, others were confiscated during revolutionary unrest, obtained in military campaigns or at archaeological sites.

Among the famous sculptures is Venus de Milo, acquired by the French ambassador from Turkey as soon as she was found. And the Nike of Samothrace was discovered in 1863 on the island of Samothrace by the French archaeologist C. Champoiseau. Unfortunately, the statue was split into several pieces and had to be assembled like a puzzle.

Now the Louvre Museum, and earlier the palace of the French kings, has not lost its luxury with the change of status, and even the glass pyramid installed in the center of the square near it has not diminished the historical charm.

Remaining the most visited and inimitable, it displays collections of paintings and sketches, engravings, bronze objects, sculptures and tapestries, ceramics and porcelain, fine jewelry and ivory items collected over many decades. There are more than 300,000 amazing exhibits in its storerooms, but only a small part (35,000) fills the halls of the Louvre at the same time.

The collections contain artifacts from ancient civilizations, from all periods of the Middle Ages, as well as pearls from the first half of the 19th century. Here in all its glory they present themselves the Ancient East, Greece, Rome and Etruria, sculptural compositions and famous statues, Islamic art, graphic and visual arts and miscellaneous objects of interest.

Each theme has its own halls, and special attention is paid to the culture of Egypt, whose evidence of the past is located in 20 rooms. Once this big collection belonged to Francois-Jean Champollion, who managed to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The department dedicated to this topic was founded by King Charles X in the spring of 1826. Today, such an extensive freak show is divided into 3 components: Roman and Coptic Egypt; chronological exposure; thematic exposure. Equally interesting are the expositions dedicated to Greece, Rome and Etruria.

Venus de Milo looks at you languidly from time immemorial and Ganymede thought about something, the majestic Nick of Samothrace even without a head and hands spread her wings, Adonis and Apollo froze in a relaxed pose, Alexander the Great and Athena from Velletri greeted with a sweeping gesture.

In the collection of sculptures, the museum initially preferred antique statues (with the exception of the works of Michelangelo), but in mid-nineteenth century, it was decided to establish 5 new areas for the exhibition of medieval sculptures of the Renaissance, created before the XVIII century. A little later (in 1850) a collection of statues diluted the medieval period.

There are still quite a lot of unique artifacts among art objects, but this panopticon continues to expand, it includes new figurines, tapestries, pieces of furniture, jewelry of fantastic beauty from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

Famous paintings of the Louvre, this is an absolutely stunning, fantastic selection of 6,000 paintings featuring paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci, Eugène Delacroix, Diego Velázquez, Raphael and his student Luca Penny, Andrea Mantegna, Paul Rubens, Titian Vecellio, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and many more authors, to list which at a time is very difficult.

But the main attraction of the museum is undoubtedly the woman with the most mysterious smile, over the solution of which venerable painting experts have been struggling for centuries - the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

Looking at the world's masterpieces, you involuntarily think: what did the artists feel and want to convey with their canvases, what wilds of madness did they wander into? What passions did they experience, what fate was in store for each, and how many ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments did they experience? How often have they experienced humiliation, strung on rare rays of glory?

Against the backdrop of all these life passions it’s even a shame that millions of people, passing by great works, cast only a cursory glance at them, trying to quickly move on.

A tour of the Louvre turns into a marathon in which you need to see and capture as much as possible in the photo. There is no time at all to realize that behind every stroke is hidden the soul of the artist, his torment and torment, sleepless nights, the desire to convey the main meaning, his own worldview and a whole era. But you should not blame people for this, because it will take at least 4 years to study each exhibit more carefully!

Paintings of the Louvre (Photo Gallery)

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There were so many paintings by different painters that it was decided to transfer those written after 1848 to.

Halls of the Louvre

Each hall of the Louvre is a competition of chic, wealth and pomposity. In the Apollo Gallery, beautiful canvases surrounded by angels and framed in gold take your breath away.

In Napoleon's living room, the Empire style, beloved by the commander, is clearly visible. The backs of the chairs upholstered in rich fabrics, like the sofas with figured legs, resemble a harp; tiered crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and the walls are decorated with paintings, plump cherubs, stucco and lots of gilding.

Louvre (panorama inside)

Wandering through the huge halls in the stream of tourists, it is hard to imagine that conspiracies were once woven in numerous rooms, and nobles and bribed servants ambushed behind heavy curtains in the tangled corridors of the palace in order to get rid of an objectionable favorite.

Belphegor the ghost of the Louvre

It is no secret that bribery, gossip and other deceit flourished at the court. Over the years, many people have perished within its walls, and now the museum’s collections are constantly replenished with fresh mummies, and therefore it is not surprising that this gave rise to many gossip and legends in which the main role assigned to the spirits.

Belphegor the Phantom of the Louvre is not only a mystical film written by Daniel Thompson and starring Sophie Marceau, but also one of the local legends. It is said that the archdemon really roams the corridors at night, casting the staff and unconcerned visitors with their most hidden horrors.

Also, if you manage to stay late on June 9 near the apartments of Catherine de Medici, you may be lucky to meet the ghost of Queen Jeanne, who was killed by her with poisoned gloves. It was on this day that she departed to another world, and now she is trying to get even with the tormentor, coming annually to her bedchamber with a translucent spirit.

Of course, there was also the mysterious White Lady, whose image in Europe is considered a bad omen.

Tickets to the Louvre

Tickets to the museum cost 15 euros, and to make the tour informative, take an audio guide for 5 euros. Open every first Sunday from October to March free of charge.

Free admission also for young people under 18, sculptors and artists, the poor, people with disabilities and their companions, for EU citizens aged 18-25.

Panorama of the Louvre

Where is the Louvre, how to get to it and opening hours