What You Can See Inside Louvre Museum in Paris, France

I received a comment from Regina, a fellow blogger asking me to post pictures inside the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. First of all, an apology to her because I forgot to post some pictures from Louvre last week. I was so busy with a lot of things last week including short trips somewhere. To Regina from Philippines, this post is especially for you..have fun viewing!

I love these religious paintings inside Louvre museum! great work of art indeed!

this is still not the original Mona Lisa painting,,this is only the entrance going there..I'll share some photos of Mona Lisa next time.

what are these men really doing here!..naked and looking down there! guess what they are doing?

The Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or more simply the Louvre — is an historic monument in Paris and the national museum of France. It is a central landmark of the city, located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (neighbourhood). It's the most visited museum in the world. Nearly 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet).

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are still visible. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1672, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being confiscated church and royal property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon when the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After his defeat at Waterloo, many works seized by Napoleon's armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic, except during the two World Wars. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings. source: wikipedia