Join this tour and visit of the world’s great art museums at your own pace with a skip-the-line ticket to the Louvre, Paris. Avoid the lengthy queues and hassle of ticket counters – simply meet your host at the meeting point and allow them to guide you past the lines for quick and easy access with a 20 minutes introduction! Once inside the historic palace on the Right Bank of the Seine, see the sights you want to see, such as the “Mona Lisa” and “Venus de Milo.”
Discover masterpieces of the Renaissance and ancient Egyptian relics, along with paintings from the 13th to 20th centuries, prints from the Royal Collection, and much more. The museum first opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of just 537 paintings. Despite closing in 1796, due to structural problems, it reopened in 1801 as the Musée Napoléon with a larger collection. Many works were seized and returned to their original owners after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.
The collection was increased during the reign of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily since the Third Republic, and as of 2008, the collection is divided among 8 curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings