Leonardo da Vinci's controversial self-portrait, the Mona Lisa.
The Louvre in the 1st Arrondissement (district) in Paris is world famous and has been a museum since the early 1500s. Louis IV was known to have a large collection of artifacts and it built up from there. The entrance of the museum is dramatic with IM Pei's pyramids occupying centre stage and is its official entrance. Today, easily 15,000 visitors, 60 percent of whom are tourists visit the Louvre every day.The day we were there, it was no different, thousands upon thousands of tourists of every hue and destination with their handphone cameras,SLRs and digital cameras taking in the sights and sounds of the more than 6,000 exhibits.An awesome and indescribable experience.
Nike (winged victory) of Samothrace
The exhibits are located in 6 areas ranging from the Egyptian and Middle Eastern, Renaissance Masters,Greek, Roman and Far Eastern. We had spent a total of 3 hours at the Louvre and only managed to cover barely 10% of the whole museum,that is to give you the size of the whole museum. According to our tour guide, if one spent 1 minute at every exhibit, it would take a whole 9 months (!) before covering every exhibit of the muesum !!
Centaur, Half Man Half Horse and Cupid
All the works are kept in airconditioned rooms with humidity under control. This is to prevent the formation of moss and aging of the works prematurely.
Venus de Milo or Goddess of Love
There are many mythological Greek Gods, of which the Venus (Love) is the most popular. Set in marble, it is an awe inspring 6 feet tall and one can even see the toned definitions on her body. Even in those days, the concept of 'body beautiful' or scultped body was already in vogue.
Truly, if one is into the works of sculptors,painters and artists, this the THE museum to visit.
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