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MUSÉE DU LOUVRE · MUST-SEE GUIDE

25 Louvre masterpieces, in the order you’ll walk past them

35,000 works, three wings, one morning. This is the short list, arranged as a route with the room number for every stop, so you spend your time looking instead of searching.

10 min read

25
must-sees
3
wings
~4h
to see them all
66
audio stories

STOP 1–14 · START HERE

Denon Wing

Climb the Daru Staircase and you’re already at the most famous corner of the museum. Do Denon first, before the tour groups arrive.

1st floor + ground floor · about 2 hours

  1. Winged Victory of Samothrace 01
    Winged Victory of Samothrace Hellenistic Greek · c. 200–190 BCE Daru Staircase · 1st floor
  2. Galerie d’Apollon 02
    Galerie d’Apollon Royal gallery · 17th century Denon · 1st floor
  3. The Virgin of the Rocks 03
    The Virgin of the Rocks Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1483–1486 Room 710 · 1st floor
  4. Mona Lisa 04
    Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1503–1519 Room 711 · 1st floor
  5. The Wedding Feast at Cana 05
    The Wedding Feast at Cana Paolo Veronese · 1563 Room 711 · 1st floor
  6. The Coronation of Napoleon 06
    The Coronation of Napoleon Jacques-Louis David · 1805–1807 Room 702 · 1st floor
  7. Oath of the Horatii 07
    Oath of the Horatii Jacques-Louis David · 1784 Room 702 · 1st floor
  8. Liberty Leading the People 08
    Liberty Leading the People Eugène Delacroix · 1830 Room 700 · 1st floor
  9. The Raft of the Medusa 09
    The Raft of the Medusa Théodore Géricault · 1818–1819 Room 700 · 1st floor
  10. The Death of Sardanapalus 10
    The Death of Sardanapalus Eugène Delacroix · 1827 Room 700 · 1st floor
  11. Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss 11
    Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss Antonio Canova · 1787–1793 Room 403 · Ground floor
  12. The Dying Slave 12
    The Dying Slave Michelangelo · 1513–1516 Room 403 · Ground floor
  13. The Rebellious Slave 13
    The Rebellious Slave Michelangelo · 1513–1516 Room 403 · Ground floor
  14. Islamic Art, Cour Visconti 14
    Islamic Art, Cour Visconti Department of Islamic Art · 2012 Denon · Lower ground

STOP 15–20

Sully Wing

Greek and Egyptian antiquities, and the medieval fortress the palace was built on.

Lower ground → 2nd floor · about 1 hour

  1. Venus de Milo 15
    Venus de Milo Ancient Greek · c. 150–125 BCE Room 345 · Ground floor
  2. Great Sphinx of Tanis 16
    Great Sphinx of Tanis Ancient Egypt · c. 2600 BCE Room 338 · Lower ground
  3. Seated Scribe 17
    Seated Scribe Ancient Egypt · c. 2620–2500 BCE Room 635 · 1st floor
  4. Egyptian Sarcophagi 18
    Egyptian Sarcophagi Ramses III Sully · Level −1
  5. Medieval Louvre foundations 19
    Medieval Louvre foundations 12th-century fortress Sully · Level −1
  6. The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds 20
    The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds Georges de La Tour · c. 1635 Room 912 · 2nd floor

STOP 21–25 · IF YOU STILL HAVE ENERGY

Richelieu Wing

The quietest wing: Mesopotamia, French sculpture courtyards and the Napoleon III apartments.

Ground floor → 2nd floor · about 1 hour

  1. Code of Hammurabi 21
    Code of Hammurabi Babylonian · c. 1754 BCE Room 227 · Ground floor
  2. Lamassu of Khorsabad 22
    Lamassu of Khorsabad Assyrian · c. 713 BCE Room 229 · Ground floor
  3. Marly Horses 23
    Marly Horses Guillaume Coustou · 1739–1745 Richelieu · Cour Marly
  4. The Lacemaker 24
    The Lacemaker Johannes Vermeer · c. 1669–1671 Room 837 · 2nd floor
  5. Napoleon III Apartments 25
    Napoleon III Apartments Second Empire state rooms Richelieu · 1st floor

BEFORE YOU GO

The list is the easy part. Here’s the rest.

Full visiting guide →
TICKETS€32 timed entry. Book before you flyHow to visit → ENTRANCESSkip the pyramid line: Porte des LionsHow to visit → MONA LISAWhen the crowd in Room 711 is thinnestMona Lisa guide → COMPAREGuided tour or audio guide?Read the comparison →

MUSECAT MAGAZINE · FREE TO READ

Read the backstory on the metro

All 33 Louvre stories →
History & Culture · 2 minThe day the Mona Lisa went missing Antiquities · 3 minLamassu of Khorsabad and ancient Assyria History & Culture · 2 minMarks in stone: the Louvre’s underground moat Painting · 3 minThe Wedding at Cana, the Louvre’s biggest canvas

SAME DAY, NEXT DOOR

Still have energy after the Louvre?

15 min walk through the TuileriesMusée de l’Orangerie10 must-sees → 15 min walk across the SeineMusée d’Orsay28 must-sees →

Stand in front of it. Press play.

The same 25 works, with a story at each · iPhone · Works offline

Listen in the app

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons, by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, Jörg Bittner Unna, Livioandronico2013, APK, Mbzt, Vania Teofilo, Jastrow, Fred Romero and Miguel Hermoso Cuesta (CC BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / CC BY 2.0 / CC BY 2.5 / CC BY 3.0 / CC BY 4.0 / CC0 / Public domain).

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