The Louvre: The History, The Collections, The Architecture

The pictures and level of detail is top notch. Photos include interior and exterior architecture, along with garden. It has a ribbon place holder, which I always love in a coffee table book. Some photos are complete and some focus on particular detail of the painting or sculpture. I bought this book for two reasons - 1 It is sold directly at Le Louvre and given its size and weight, I would have passed it up from carting it home in my luggage. 2. It indicates in the description for the works of art shown in the book, it lists the location and I am pre-planning my visit. Finding the exact room locations online is difficult and the Le Louvre site requires you know the painting's name in French. This second reason is why I have only given it 4 stars. It lists which of the 8 art classifications the art piece belongs to - Asia, Islam, Italian, not the specific room. So to plan a trip you can determine which wing in the museum, but those wings have individual rooms like 700, 835 and the rooms are not listed. So I would still spend quite bit of time wondering around and looking. In any other museum, no big deal, in Le Louvre due to its building size and collection size, it's a big deal. Because I now know the artist names, I will go back to Le Louvre website and see if I can locate the specific room. Also because it covers well beyond the top 20 art pieces on everyone's list, I have even added more pieces to my list of 55 I had already compiled.

If you enjoyed your last visit to the Musee du Louvre, then this magnificent book is for you because it will take you right back there, minus the crowds standing in front of your favorite paintings or statues. This book, printed in Italy, was originally published in French by top-tier publisher Citadelles & Mazenod, known for their exceptional art reproductions. What you get here is what you actually see when you visit the Louvre -- that is, no digitally enhanced color saturated reproduction eye candy for your coffee table book. No, instead, for example, you will see the Mona Lisa behind its thick, reflecting glass case, a little blurry, because that's how it is in the museum. On the other hand, on the opposite wall where the Mona Lisa hangs in the Salle des Etats, the book presents Veronese's massive Wedding Feast at Cana in all its spectacular color-bursting glory because that's how you will see it in the Louvre (and it's on a full two page beautiful color spread without borders). Thus, paintings are shown in a variety of ways: some full page without borders, some with frames as you would see them in the museum (but most without), and a few closeups focusing on essential details. The point of this variety is to give you as close to a museum experience as possible. If you just want full dimension reproductions of paintings without frames, there are plenty of books already covering that. The same goes for statues: some are shown in the traditional full frontal manner. But others are shown from the side or behind, as though you were walking around them. If a few illustrations don’t fit the traditional mold of books about museums, then perhaps some leeway (and even enthusiasm!) can be given to the publisher of a 600 page art book for being a little avant garde on occasion. Again, recreating the museum experience is the purpose of this book. Of course, the iconic spaces like the Grande Galerie, galerie d’Apollon, Salon Denon (salles Mollien and Daru), Cour Marly, and the Napoleon III appartements, and others, are wonderfully covered in exquisite detail. The book is written in an easy to read, conversational style, just like having the author as your tour guide through the galleries. At less than $100.00, this book is a bargain. Only one caution: the book has no index. This could make finding your favs a journey on occasion — just like strolling through the world’s largest museum.

This is a beautiful looking book. I cannot speak to its accuracy from an art history standpoint, but I can appreciate the classic pieces of art that fill the pages. Heavy and thoughtfully made. Beautiful dust cover as well. I would highly recommend this if you’re looking for a large coffee table book, or if you’re a lover of stunning artwork.

This book offers, for a budget price, a trip to the center of the art world of Paris (and of most of European art). It is a sumptuously illustrated book with top level printing. The essays accompanying it are intelligent and have the unique aspect of incorporating a tremendous amount of detail about the architecture of the Louvre (inside and out). Additionally, there is a significant emphasis in the photographs selected to show the deep collection of sculpture from the 19th century back to Classical Greece. So, rather than the common, large format art book of a museum, mostly filled with paintings, this one gives at least equal space to the complex architecture of the Louvre and the remarkable three-dimensional lovely sculpture, spread throughout.

This is definitely one of the most beautiful books about the Louvre, but, if you are seeking a good survey of the museum’s collections, you won't find this book very satisfying. The book traces the evolution of the museum and its unparalleled collections, and the photos of both the building and the art are gorgeous. As a sampler of the collections, however, it is very unsatisfactory. While there are abundant and gorgeous photos of the architecture, the photos of the art are too few and often unsatisfying. Many sculptures are photographed only from the back, or only as details (feet, hands, buttocks, etc.). There are a few excellent straightforward photos of paintings, but too many show the entire frame as well, which adds little and greatly reduces the space devoted to the painting. Additionally, there are numerous “artistic” shots of parts of frames, tantalizing bits of paintings (not closeups of interesting details, but seemingly random bits), and artworks from strange angles (through doorways, as reflections, etc.). This is all very nice, but quite frustrating for a reader seeking a representative selection of the collections. With these serious reservations, I recommend the book to readers interested in beautiful photos of the museum's architecture and how the collections are displayed. If you seek a good guide to the collections, you will find the books published by Abrams (Paintings in the Louvre, 1987) or Koenemann (Louvre, 2019) more satisfying; the latter is an especially good buy. Really, if you are interested in the art rather than the architecture, almost any other book is a better choice.

This is a beautiful book. The lithography is outstanding, color rendition accurate, and informative text. It is a great introduction to the Louvre.

Beautiful book, amazing amount of pictures. I've been to the Louvre. This book does it justice.

This book accomplishes the difficult task of telling the complicated story of a world class museum, and its history, which is fascinating. The story is very well told, very clear and compelling.

This is an exquisite book with gorgeous pictures and an interesting narrative of the history of the Louvre.

The reproduced art work is superb. It brings back my beautiful memories of the Louvre. Some of the pictures brought me back to standing in front of the actual artwork.

The pictures and level of detail is top notch. Photos include interior and exterior architecture, along with garden. It has a ribbon place holder, which I always love in a coffee table book. Some photos are complete and some focus on particular detail of the painting or sculpture. I bought this book for two reasons - 1 It is sold directly at Le Louvre and given its size and weight, I would have passed it up from carting it home in my luggage. 2. It indicates in the description for the works of art shown in the book, it lists the location and I am pre-planning my visit. Finding the exact room locations online is difficult and the Le Louvre site requires you know the painting's name in French. This second reason is why I have only given it 4 stars. It lists which of the 8 art classifications the art piece belongs to - Asia, Islam, Italian, not the specific room. So to plan a trip you can determine which wing in the museum, but those wings have individual rooms like 700, 835 and the rooms are not listed. So I would still spend quite bit of time wondering around and looking. In any other museum, no big deal, in Le Louvre due to its building size and collection size, it's a big deal. Because I now know the artist names, I will go back to Le Louvre website and see if I can locate the specific room. Also because it covers well beyond the top 20 art pieces on everyone's list, I have even added more pieces to my list of 55 I had already compiled.

If you enjoyed your last visit to the Musee du Louvre, then this magnificent book is for you because it will take you right back there, minus the crowds standing in front of your favorite paintings or statues. This book, printed in Italy, was originally published in French by top-tier publisher Citadelles & Mazenod, known for their exceptional art reproductions. What you get here is what you actually see when you visit the Louvre -- that is, no digitally enhanced color saturated reproduction eye candy for your coffee table book. No, instead, for example, you will see the Mona Lisa behind its thick, reflecting glass case, a little blurry, because that's how it is in the museum. On the other hand, on the opposite wall where the Mona Lisa hangs in the Salle des Etats, the book presents Veronese's massive Wedding Feast at Cana in all its spectacular color-bursting glory because that's how you will see it in the Louvre (and it's on a full two page beautiful color spread without borders). Thus, paintings are shown in a variety of ways: some full page without borders, some with frames as you would see them in the museum (but most without), and a few closeups focusing on essential details. The point of this variety is to give you as close to a museum experience as possible. If you just want full dimension reproductions of paintings without frames, there are plenty of books already covering that. The same goes for statues: some are shown in the traditional full frontal manner. But others are shown from the side or behind, as though you were walking around them. If a few illustrations don’t fit the traditional mold of books about museums, then perhaps some leeway (and even enthusiasm!) can be given to the publisher of a 600 page art book for being a little avant garde on occasion. Again, recreating the museum experience is the purpose of this book. Of course, the iconic spaces like the Grande Galerie, galerie d’Apollon, Salon Denon (salles Mollien and Daru), Cour Marly, and the Napoleon III appartements, and others, are wonderfully covered in exquisite detail. The book is written in an easy to read, conversational style, just like having the author as your tour guide through the galleries. At less than $100.00, this book is a bargain. Only one caution: the book has no index. This could make finding your favs a journey on occasion — just like strolling through the world’s largest museum.

This is a beautiful looking book. I cannot speak to its accuracy from an art history standpoint, but I can appreciate the classic pieces of art that fill the pages. Heavy and thoughtfully made. Beautiful dust cover as well. I would highly recommend this if you’re looking for a large coffee table book, or if you’re a lover of stunning artwork.

This book offers, for a budget price, a trip to the center of the art world of Paris (and of most of European art). It is a sumptuously illustrated book with top level printing. The essays accompanying it are intelligent and have the unique aspect of incorporating a tremendous amount of detail about the architecture of the Louvre (inside and out). Additionally, there is a significant emphasis in the photographs selected to show the deep collection of sculpture from the 19th century back to Classical Greece. So, rather than the common, large format art book of a museum, mostly filled with paintings, this one gives at least equal space to the complex architecture of the Louvre and the remarkable three-dimensional lovely sculpture, spread throughout.

This is definitely one of the most beautiful books about the Louvre, but, if you are seeking a good survey of the museum’s collections, you won't find this book very satisfying. The book traces the evolution of the museum and its unparalleled collections, and the photos of both the building and the art are gorgeous. As a sampler of the collections, however, it is very unsatisfactory. While there are abundant and gorgeous photos of the architecture, the photos of the art are too few and often unsatisfying. Many sculptures are photographed only from the back, or only as details (feet, hands, buttocks, etc.). There are a few excellent straightforward photos of paintings, but too many show the entire frame as well, which adds little and greatly reduces the space devoted to the painting. Additionally, there are numerous “artistic” shots of parts of frames, tantalizing bits of paintings (not closeups of interesting details, but seemingly random bits), and artworks from strange angles (through doorways, as reflections, etc.). This is all very nice, but quite frustrating for a reader seeking a representative selection of the collections. With these serious reservations, I recommend the book to readers interested in beautiful photos of the museum's architecture and how the collections are displayed. If you seek a good guide to the collections, you will find the books published by Abrams (Paintings in the Louvre, 1987) or Koenemann (Louvre, 2019) more satisfying; the latter is an especially good buy. Really, if you are interested in the art rather than the architecture, almost any other book is a better choice.

This is a beautiful book. The lithography is outstanding, color rendition accurate, and informative text. It is a great introduction to the Louvre.

Beautiful book, amazing amount of pictures. I've been to the Louvre. This book does it justice.

This book accomplishes the difficult task of telling the complicated story of a world class museum, and its history, which is fascinating. The story is very well told, very clear and compelling.

This is an exquisite book with gorgeous pictures and an interesting narrative of the history of the Louvre.

The reproduced art work is superb. It brings back my beautiful memories of the Louvre. Some of the pictures brought me back to standing in front of the actual artwork.

The book lacks diagrams and floorplans of the Louvre that the reader should have in order to follow the history of the building and installations. Especially for someone who has not visited since 1984. Also more photos of the paintings would have been appreciated. Lastly, typos and English translation problems are noticeable.

But arrived damaged

Some of the images are good for presenting the art work and decor of the Louvre but most of the photos are very perfunctory with the occasional attempt at insightful shots that after a while become repetitive close-ups or sophomoric details such as half-shaded half-lit statuary. There are lots of other books that offer sharper images with more creativity or books that simply present the building and artwork in much the same way as this book. The biggest drawback is the text which is beyond tedious. The vast majority of it lists names of architects and dates with lots and lots of attention paid to when a room was designed or when a piece was acquired and where it was housed. There are almost no insights into the art or history of the palace and museum beyond names and dates then more names and dates then yep, more names and dates of the men who built or designed or bought. Trying to keep up with who designed which room between what years or who bought what piece when is a waste of time but by far the main (only) focus of the book. There are almost no insights into the stories or events at this amazing building or the art work. A statue causing a scandal for it's nudity is left unexplained so the author can tell in the next sentence that the room where the statue was once shown now houses oriental antiquities. Two close ups photos of friezes of a man and a boy gauging their eyes is briefly explained that the father shared the son's punishment for adultery but then yet again, the focus turns to who designed the room. Captions for some art work include some teasing information as to the symbolism but extremely rarely. The text for chapter on 'The Discovery of the Ancient East' which includes amazing pieces such as the Code of Hammurabi is simply a chronology of French men and their acquisitions of the pieces. There is literally nothing on the modern controversy over the loot, nothing on the importance of the pieces or their interpretations, no theories as to their significance or meanings but line after line of who bought or took what piece and when. Sadly this expensive book (very heavy and with small font) stands out for how to make one of the most intriguing places in the world with literally thousands of masterpieces beyond dull and in fact enormously irritating. I'm not sure who this book is for. There are plenty of other Louvre books that give more interesting information and equal or better images. It'd be hard to make a more fascinating topic more boring, so kudos for that I guess.

For the person who wished it had the floorplans, this is not a travel book.

Encyclopedic overview of this Museum, plenty of very interesting insights not only of the different collections but from the museum itself. Absolutely recommended to those who will enjoy lots of hours discovering or remembering the Louvre.