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The positioning of this Hellenistic statue, dramatically lit at the end of a long hallway, enhances its feminine beauty. It dates from the end of the 2nd century BC and was discovered on the Greek island of Milos in 1820.

Arguably the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo’s portrait of the woman with the enigmatic smile (see Leonardo da Vinci and the Mona Lisa) was encased in glass after a knife attack. To avoid the crowds visit early or late in the day.

The unmistakable pyramid, designed by I.M. Pei, became the Louvre’s new entrance in 1989. Stainless steel tubes form the 21-m-high (69-ft) frame.

Coustou’s rearing horses being restrained by horse-tamers were sculpted in 1745 for Louis XIV’s Château de Marly. Replicas stand near the Place de la Concorde.

A shipwreck three years earlier inspired this early Romantic painting by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) in 1819. The work depicts a moment when the survivors spot a sail on the horizon.

This Hellenistic treasure (3rd–2nd century BC) stands atop a stone ship radiating grace and power. It commemorates a naval triumph at Rhodes

Jan Vermeer’s masterpiece, painted around 1665 gives a simple but beautiful rendering of everyday life and is the highlight of the Louvre’s Dutch collection.

Michelangelo sculpted these two slaves (1513–20) for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome. He purposely left parts unfinished to symbolize the figures emerging from “prisons” of stone.

An excavation in the 1980s uncovered the remains of the medieval fortress. You can see the base of the towers and the drawbridge support.

The majestic east façade by Claude Perrault (1613–88), with its columns, was part of an extension plan commissioned by Louis XIV.