The museum is closed
In line with the measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène Delacroix remain closed until further notice. All those who have purchased a ticket for this period will automatically receive a refund—no action is required.

1:30
Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Louvre Highlights
Artworks featured in the 'APES**T' music video
Accessible on:
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Introduction
In 2018, the Carters shook things up at the venerable Louvre palace! Follow this trail to see the highlights the superstar couple picked out for their ‘APES**T’ music video.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z chose the Louvre as their shooting location. This trail shows you the paintings, sculptures and settings that inspired them for this song from their first album as a duo: an Egyptian sphinx, Greek gods and goddesses, a famous Italian of the Renaissance, an emperor in all his glory, tragic or romantic heroes and heroines – and the iconic Winged Victory of Samothrace, who appears in the video poised on the prow of her marble ship while a sea of dancers ripple in waves down the staircase at her feet.
Start of trail

Enter through the Denon wing.
After the ticket check, continue on up the stairs.
Take the spiral staircase on the right.
Go up a few steps on your left.
Opposite the Pyramid, turn right and walk through the gallery.
Go up the large staircase towards the statue of a winged female figure.
Step 01
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Room 703 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Opposite The Winged Victory of Samothrace, turn right and go between the columns.
Go straight on past the glass door.
Leave the Salon Carré by the door to the right of the windows and go into the Grande Galerie.
Walk on through the Grande Galerie.
The Virgin of the Green Cushion is on the left wall, after the first window.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace
The ancient Greeks imagined Nike, the goddess of Victory, as a winged female figure who flew down to Earth to bring news of victory. This statue of the goddess was found on the island of Samothrace, in the northern Aegean Sea. Intended as an offering to the gods, it originally stood in a sanctuary where people went to pray for protection from the dangers of the sea. The sculpture conveys an extraordinary sense of movement: it looks as though the goddess has just landed on the prow of the ship where she stands proudly, her cloak billowing in the wind and her clothes clinging to her body in the ‘wet drapery’ effect that Greek sculptors were so fond of.
Three-quarter view
Worshippers at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods would have seen the goddess in three-quarter view; if you look at her from the front left-hand side, you will get the same perspective. Archaeologists think she was intended to be seen that way, because the right-hand side of the sculpture was less detailed – when ancient Greek sculptors worked on monumental structures, they didn’t waste time on the bits that people would never see!

Step 02
The Virgin of the Green Cushion
Room 710 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Virgin of the Green Cushion
Andrea Solario
Walk on through the Grande Galerie. Pass the red marble columns.
Pietà is on the left wall, just before the painting in the middle of the gallery.

The Virgin of the Green Cushion
Andrea Solario
The painter Andrea Solario was a contemporary of the great Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci, who influenced the style of his work. This religious image of the Virgin and Child is set against a pastoral background that does not resemble a biblical landscape or the countryside in Solario’s native region of Veneto; this gives the painting a sense of timelessness and helps focus attention on the true, universally recognisable subject of the scene: motherhood. The loving gaze between mother and child, the way the baby plays with his foot and the velvety softness of the famous green cushion (which gave the painting its name) all express the pure joy of motherly love.
Step 03
Pietà
Room 710 - Denon wing - Level 1

Pietà
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino
Retrace your steps
Take the first door on the left.
Go into the Mona Lisa room.

Pietà
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino
A Pietà is a depiction of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ, usually on her lap. The painter Rosso Fiorentino chose to show the scene differently. Mary’s arms are stretched out wide as she falls back in grief, creating an impression of movement that fills the whole width of the scene. The unusual sense of agitation is heightened by the secondary figures with their brightly coloured drapery, and by the body of Christ which seems unnaturally large. This kind of exaggeration is characteristic of the Mannerist style, represented by Rosso among others. King François I admired the Italian Mannerists but the Catholic authorities banned their works, disapproving of their extreme expressiveness.
A royal patron
François I invited Leonardo da Vinci to France in 1515. Fifteen years later, he also extended an invitation to the Italian painter Rosso Fiorentino – one of the artists he wanted to decorate his château at Fontainebleau. The High Constable of France, Anne de Montmorency, a close friend of the king and also an admirer of Italian art, is thought to have commissioned this Pietà from Fiorentino as the coat of arms of the de Montmorency family appears on the two cushions under Christ’s body.
Step 04
The Mona Lisa
Room 711 - Denon wing - Level 1

Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
Turn around to look at the huge painting opposite the Mona Lisa.

Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known as the Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, posed for what would become the most famous portrait in the world, wearing a smile that echoes her husband’s name – the Italian word giocondo means ‘happy’. But why is the Mona Lisa considered the ultimate masterpiece? For Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, it was because she wears a ‘mother’s smile’ that reminds us of our infancy. But perhaps it is due to Leonardo’s wonderful ‘sfumato’ technique – multiple thin layers of transparent glaze, creating a misty effect that makes the painting shimmer with life? Or simply because it is a work by the undisputed genius of the Italian Renaissance? Then again, it could be because the Mona Lisa was stolen, then recovered, and made front-page news? Or because the portrait has been copied or referenced so often, by so many artists? The real reason is probably a combination of all the above!
Seeing eye to eye
The video shows Beyoncé and Jay-Z standing in front of the Mona Lisa and looking towards the viewers, just as she does. Part of the painting’s appeal is the way she seems to be looking straight at us – though in fact, research has shown that her gaze is slightly off-centre, which only adds to its power. And inevitably, at the end of the song, the two stars turn around to face her.
Step 05
The Wedding Feast at Cana
Room 711 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Wedding Feast at Cana
Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese
Walk behind the Mona Lisa and go into the next room.
Turn left into a large gallery with red walls.
The Raft of the Medusa is a little further on, on the left wall.

The Wedding Feast at Cana
Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese
According to the New Testament, Jesus performed his first miracle in a city called Cana in Galilee, where Mary and Jesus were invited to a wedding banquet and he turned the water into wine. The painter Veronese had been asked to paint this biblical scene on the wall of a Venetian monastery refectory; he did so, but he interpreted the story with great artistic freedom, painting a huge crowd of 132 figures combining biblical characters, Venetian aristocrats in 16th-century outfits and turbaned Orientals. He gave the painting a theatrical quality with a splendid architectural setting and dazzling colours made from costly pigments imported from the East by Venetian merchants.
Spot the dog!
This huge painting is full of details that are sometimes surprising – like the little dog standing on the table. It must have caught the eye of the ‘APES**T’ director, who included it in close-up in the video. Twenty years after The Wedding Feast at Cana, the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition took an interest in anther painting by Veronese, the Feast in the House of Levi, also commissioned for a Venetian church. The Tribunal considered the presence of a dog inappropriate for a religious painting, and asked him to replace it with a sacred figure.
Step 06
The Raft of the Medusa
Room 700 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Raft of the Medusa
Théodore Géricault
At the top of the wall on your right you will see The Shades of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appear to Dante and Virgil.

The Raft of the Medusa
Théodore Géricault
In 1818, the artist Théodore Géricault decided to paint a contemporary subject for the next annual art Salon in Paris to distinguish himself from traditional history painters. He opted for an event that had caused a scandal two years earlier: the shipwreck of the Medusa, a French navy frigate sent by King Louis XVIII to reclaim Senegal from the British. The ship was commanded by an incompetent captain who ran her aground off the West African coast then left 150 people to drift on a makeshift raft, where they had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Only ten survived. Géricault took a scientific approach to his subject, interviewing survivors and sketching amputated limbs that he borrowed from a hospital. The Raft of the Medusa was seen as scandalous when it was officially presented at the Salon, but over the years it gained a reputation as one of the first great Romantic paintings.
An anti-slavery painting?
Géricault’s work was unusual in that it depicted anonymous castaways in a style generally reserved for ancient heroes. The figures resemble idealised nude studies, depicted according to the norms of classical beauty. The pyramid of bodies draws the eye upwards to the figure waving a cloth: the fact that he is dark-skinned was significant in the early 19th century when the abolition of slavery was a burning issue.

Step 07
The Shades of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta
Room 700 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Shades of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appear to Dante and Virgil
Ary Scheffer
On the wall opposite The Raft of the Medusa is The Charging Chasseur.

The Shades of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appear to Dante and Virgil
Ary Scheffer
The legendary lovers Francesca and Paolo are the ultimate symbols of passionate love. To form an alliance between two powerful families, the beautiful Francesca had been forced to marry a deformed and ugly man. However, she fell in love with his handsome younger brother Paolo, who loved her in return. The pair met a tragic end, murdered by Francesca’s jealous husband. This story, recounted by the medieval Italian poet Dante, inspired future generations of artists including the painter Ary Scheffer, who depicted the lovers condemned to suffer in Hell for all eternity. Two poets – Dante and his master, the great Latin poet Virgil – observe them from the shadows, reminding us that poets have the power to make a love story immortal.
Step 08
The Charging Chasseur
Room 700 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Charging Chasseur
Théodore Géricault
Time for a break? Try the Café Mollien…and enjoy the fabulous view of the Pyramid from its terrace.
Retrace your steps and leave the room.
Go through the following room, past the gift shop and into the next room.
Look at The Coronation of Napoleon, on your left.

The Charging Chasseur
Théodore Géricault
Théodore Géricault was very young when he produced this painting, which might look conventional at first sight but is actually subtly original. Many artists of his day depicted horses in movement – a difficult exercise that allowed them to demonstrate their technical skills – and since the Middle Ages there had been plenty of battle scenes and portraits of people on horseback... But this composition seems entirely structured around the horse’s movement, while the officer’s absent-minded, distant gaze is far from heroic. Although the smoke-filled sky and low, threatening horizon line suggest a war scene, Géricault’s work is a far cry from contemporary paintings of famous battles designed to glorify the Empire. By taking an innovative personal approach, the young artist revolutionised both history painting and portraits on horseback.
What’s in a look?
The ‘APES**T’ video draws us into Géricault’s painting through the detail of the horse’s bulging eye: something has terrified the creature and made it rear up on its hind legs. The rider’s expression also speaks louder than words, conveying a sense of battle fatigue that needs no detailed explanation and establishing Géricault as a master of the art of suggestion.
Step 09
The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of the Empress Joséphine
Room 702 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of the Empress Joséphine in Notre-Dame Cathedral on 2 December 1804
Jacques-Louis David
The Portrait of Juliette Récamier is opposite The Coronation of Napoleon.

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon and the Coronation of the Empress Joséphine in Notre-Dame Cathedral on 2 December 1804
Jacques-Louis David
For his coronation as Emperor of France in May 1804, Napoleon wanted to be consecrated by the pope himself – as Charlemagne had been a thousand years before him – at a ceremony held in Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. But Napoleon also wanted to demonstrate his independence from the Church, so he crowned both himself and his wife, Joséphine. Nowadays, an event like that would be full of paparazzi…but in 1804, to record the ceremony for posterity, Napoleon commissioned a monumental work from the celebrated painter Jacques-Louis David. After attending the event, the artist used cardboard models and wax figures to reconstruct the scene for his painting. To highlight the splendour of the event, he contrasted complementary colours (especially red and green) and illuminated the stars of the event with a beam of light.
Tweaking the truth
David used a few tricks to keep the Emperor happy. Firstly, he made the Empress Joséphine look younger! He also painted Napoleon’s mother looking down on the scene from the VIP gallery – a pure invention, as she had not even attended the ceremony. And finally, he downsized the structure of the cathedral to emphasise the figures.

Step 10
Madame Récamier
Room 702 - Denon wing - Level 1

Madame Récamier
Jacques-Louis David
The Oath of the Horatii is on the same wall, to the left.

Madame Récamier
Jacques-Louis David
Juliette Récamier was 23 years old when she commissioned this portrait from Jacques-Louis David. Despite her young age, she was already an influential figure. She had married the new governor of the Bank of France and hosted a successful salon frequented by French and foreign writers and socialites. Above all, she was a trendsetter in terms of fashion and design, being one of the first to wear Grecian-style gowns and display Etruscan-style furniture in her home, boosting the taste for all things classical that became so popular during the Empire. You can see some of her furniture in Rooms 557–558 at the Louvre [ou simplement lien]. David’s portrait shows her as more than just a woman of fashion: the almost empty room focuses attention on her as an ideal of feminine elegance – like a photo shoot for a fashion magazine.
Don’t hurry an artist!
Impatient of waiting for her portrait, Madame Récamier asked one of David’s pupils to paint it instead! The annoyed painter reportedly said to his model, ‘Women have their whims, and so do artists; allow me to satisfy mine by keeping this portrait’. He never finished the painting and kept it in his studio for a long time... but its unfinished state is part of its enduring appeal and one of the reasons it is seen as a masterpiece.

Step 11
The Oath of the Horatii
Room 702 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David
Now turn to look at The Intervention of the Sabine Women, opposite The Oath of the Horatii.

The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David
By 1784, David was already an experienced painter but this painting for King Louis XVI was his first royal commission – the perfect opportunity to make a name for himself! He therefore went all out to create a masterpiece, inventing a new style that put him at the forefront of the neoclassical movement. David had always admired the classical ideal of beauty but here, rather than following the contemporary fashion for romantic scenes inspired by Greek mythology, he chose to give his work a moral and patriotic dimension with a subject from Roman history: the Horatii brothers, Rome’s chosen champions, who swore an oath to defeat their enemies or die for their country. In fact, David invented this particular episode for the purposes of his painting. He added emotional impact by depicting the grieving women of the family, and his painting was a triumph at the annual Paris Salon.
‘The Studio of the Horatii’
The Oath of the Horatii was an instant hit and was copied by artists all over Europe. David’s studio was the place-to-be for young painters, and those he accepted as his students jokingly called it ‘the Studio of the Horatii’ in honour of this outstanding and innovative work.
Step 12
The Intervention of the Sabine Women
Room 702 - Denon wing - Level 1

The Intervention of the Sabine Women
Jacques-Louis David
Leave the room and head towards The Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Take the stairs up to the statue.
Go up the steps to the left of the statue.
Go into the rotunda on the right.
Turn right into the Galerie d’Apollon.
Walk towards the centre of the gallery and look up at the ceiling.

The Intervention of the Sabine Women
Jacques-Louis David
Fifteen years after The Oath of the Horatii, David turned to another episode from Roman history, but the context in which he painted it was radically different. In 1791, following the French Revolution, he voted the death of Louis XVI (who had commissioned the Horatii painting), and the artist’s political sympathies subsequently led to his imprisonment. It was in prison that he had the idea for this painting based on the story of the Sabine women: when Rome was founded, the shortage of women prompted the Romans to abduct the daughters of their neighbours, the Sabines, sparking a battle between the two cities. The Sabine women intervened at this point, convincing the enemies to unite as one nation. The message of the painting was clear: the artist was advocating the reconciliation of the French people after the upheaval of the Revolution of 1789. David himself regarded this painting as his masterpiece for its ‘pure Greekness’; he felt it came close to the ideal of beauty upheld by the ancient Greeks.
Step 13
Ceiling of the Galerie d’Apollon
Room 705 - Denon wing - Level 1

Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python
Eugène Delacroix
Turn around and go back past The Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Go down the stairs opposite the statue.
Turn right at the bottom of the stairs, and continue down the next staircase.
Go straight on through the rotunda (Room 408) and the next room (Room 347).
Turn right as soon as you enter the room with red marble wall, and go up to the Venus de Milo.

Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python
Eugène Delacroix
Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’, identified himself with Apollo, the god of the arts and the sun. In 1663, to reflect his dazzling image, the king entrusted the decoration of the Galerie d’Apollon to his court painter, Charles Le Brun. The latter oversaw an army of artists and instructed them to elaborate on the theme of the sun. The top of the vaulted ceiling is painted with allegories of the hours from dawn to dusk, with the sun at its zenith in the centre. Lower down, the months are modelled in stucco alongside paintings of the four seasons. Twelve winged figures representing the hours are depicted flying in the sky and the days of the week are symbolised by animals; Thursday, for example, the day of Jupiter, is represented by one of the god’s attributes, the eagle. The overall decorative scheme was both artistically and politically symbolic: like Apollo, the Sun King was the master of the universe and a great patron of artists.

A high spot in Delacroix’s career!
Charles Le Brun, who coordinated the decoration of the Galerie d’Apollon, saved the best part for himself: the centre of the vaulted ceiling…but he never got a chance to finish painting it, as Louis XIV got bored with the Louvre and turned his attention to Versailles. When the gallery was renovated in 1850, Eugène Delacroix was asked to paint the centre of the ceiling. Freely adapting Le Brun’s original sketches, he created a Romantic work that is filmed in all its splendour at the start of the ‘APES**T’ video.
Step 14
The Venus de Milo
Room 345 - Sully wing - Level 0

Aphrodite, known as the Venus de Milo
Go straight on through the crowd of sculptures facing the Venus de Milo.
Go up to the statue of Hermes, near the middle of the gallery.

Aphrodite, known as the Venus de Milo
A perfectly proportioned female figure standing two metres tall, with a face exactly three times the length of her nose and the famous ‘Greek profile’…too good to be true? Well, yes! Because this is the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite for the Greeks and Venus for the Romans, the mother of Eros (‘Cupid’ in Latin)... and above all, because she meets the aesthetic criteria of Greek art with her geometric proportions and divine, idealised beauty. The Venus de Milo found instant fame when she arrived at the Louvre in 1821, partly because of her grace and charm – but also because she is an original Greek sculpture, and very few have survived; most of the classical statues around her are Roman copies of long-lost Greek sculptures.
A modern muse
Artists began to copy the Venus de Milo in the 19th century. In the 20th and 21st centuries, they tended to pay her tribute in more provocative ways: Salvador Dali, for example, fitted his plaster copy of the Venus with drawers to represent secret areas of the subconscious mind; René Magritte painted her in three colours; Niki de Saint Phalle splattered her with paint from a rifle. And Beyoncé and Jay-Z? They simply posed in front of her.

Step 15
Hermes fastening his sandal
Room 344 - Sully wing - Level 0

Hermes fastening his sandal, after Lysippos
At the far end of the room, turn left in front of the statue of Athena.
Go down the stairs on your right to the Crypt of the Sphinx.

Hermes fastening his sandal, after Lysippos
Most ancient Greek sculptures are known to us from Roman copies. The Romans were great admirers of Greek art and they copied the original works, which were often melted down for the metal if they were made of bronze. This is perhaps what happened to the statue by the 4th-century Greek sculptor Lysippos from which this work was copied. This athletic figure of Hermes has the perfect proportions established by the Greek sculptors of the previous century, but Lysippos added a personal and realistic touch: Hermes, the messenger of the gods, is shown fastening his sandal like an ordinary human being. This could be why the Romans associated this figure with the mortal Cincinnatus, a statesman who fell from power and had no choice but to become a farmer, before he was called to save Rome from destruction.
Step 16
The Great Sphinx of Tanis
Room 338 - Sully wing - Level-1

The Great Sphinx of Tanis
The next work is currently on display in the Petite Galerie.
Go down the stairs opposite the Sphinx.
Keep straight on and follow the trail through the medieval Louvre.
Leave the medieval Louvre and go straight ahead between the pillars.
Keep straight on, following the ‘Exit’ signs to the escalators.
Turn right before the escalators and head for the Richelieu wing entrance.
Go past the ticket check and into the Richelieu wing.
Turn left and go into the Petite Galerie.
Go straight on. The Portrait of a Black Woman is in the last room.

The Great Sphinx of Tanis
For the ancient Egyptians, most artworks served a primarily symbolic purpose. So this Great Sphinx was not just meant to look good; it was, above all, a guardian. The lion’s body symbolises the sky-god Horus and the human head represents the pharaoh, so the sphinx demonstrates the link between the pharaoh and the gods – especially the sun god Ra, the creator of the universe (. With its outstretched claws and tense body, this sphinx looks ready to pounce, demonstrating its protective role. Sphinxes were placed at the entrance to sacred places to keep evil forces away.

Step 17
Portrait of a Black Woman
Petite Galerie - Richelieu wing - Level 0

Portrait of a Black Woman
Marie-Guillemine Benoist

Portrait of a Black Woman
Marie-Guillemine Benoist
In 1800, Marie-Guillemine Benoist, a former pupil of Jacques-Louis David, presented a painting at the Paris Salon. The young artist proved herself worthy of her teacher with this work, which respected the conventions of portraiture and was painted in the neoclassical style. The sitter, shown in three-quarter view, is looking towards us, the brushwork is smooth, the contrasts are clear and the background plain, as in portraits by David. But Marie-Guillemine Benoist did more than demonstrate her painting skills: the model she chose was an unknown black woman, a former slave whom she depicted according to the conventions of society portraiture. At a time when the abolition of slavery was a major issue, the young artist was also taking a stand.
A woman artist and a black model
The art world was male-dominated until the mid-20th century and there are few works by women painters at the Louvre. The subject of this painting – a black woman – is also very rare in Western art history. The ‘APES**T’ video highlights several black figures, including the young woman in this portrait and the man waving a flag on The Raft of the Medusa…A masterpiece can be more than just aesthetic…it can also serve an ideal.
Way to exit
Retrace your steps to the exit under the Pyramid.