The Louvre: The Many Lives of the World’s Most Famous Museum

Incredible. Well written and informative. Glad I read prior to first Louvre visit

James Gardner’s “The Louvre” is the type of riveting book you marvel at, almost unable to lay it down, then for your upcoming Paris trip, you casually pack it into your gear, and, carry it in your back pack as you cross the Rue de Rivoli, with eager anticipation, as you enter, what Henry James called “the richest and noblest expression.” Whether one enters by Pei’s Pyramide in the Cour Napoleon or elsewhere, this book gives vivid access to the museum as it is as much history, as a guide for the appreciation to this temple to art. While its informative maps and commentary guide, inform and educate, the Louvre becomes more than its unparalleled art treasures, Gardner gives the reader the history of the building, its structure, its changes over time, and its essential, ever-evolving role in the French culture from its origins in the 16th century reign of Francois Premier to the present. One does not make one trip to the Louvre, one makes many; each time one peels away its complexity, and learns more and more about the Louvre; this book is a learned companion and guide.

book's condition was excellent and delivery was very fast.

Probably more like a 3 1/2 Star book, but I couldn't bring myself to round up. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book or from the summary. Probably like many, I've been to the Louvre and was interested in a little more of the history beyond the art that exists there (I've read books on the Louvre art.) The book concept intrigued me since the building and site has such a long history. As noted in this headline, this is a well-researched book. While there are plenty of anecdotes about the Louvre, it reads at a lot of times like an architecture course book and/or a French history book. The challenge is that the reader almost needs to be an expert on: the Louvre layout, art history, French leaders, and the layout of Paris. There are so many references to these topics (and others) that the book gets bogged down and can be hard to follow. I found myself skimming many areas because I just couldn't make the immediate reference. Especially as the writing focuses on the layout, one almost needs a map to understand where the discussion is focused. At times I felt the book was not much more than a glorified Wikipedia entry. But for what I would call the casual reader, the details and tangents are hard to get through.With that being said, there are moments throughout the book where the history anecdotes are very interesting. And at a point I was wanting more. However, as the book turned to the 20th century, I feel the story got short changed. Or maybe there really wasn't much to write about with WW1, WW2, and the modernization of the Louvre. The book's focus is really on the time period when the greatest change was happening to the Louvre and the biggest art contributions occurred, which is prior to the 20th century.Overall, I'm glad I read it, but still not quite what I expected when I decided to sit down to read the book.

Fascinating history of the buildings in the Louvre. Could have used more floor plans, diagrams, copies of old engravings, etc. The black and white photos are small and hard to see. There are many images to be found online showing the various iterations of the Louvre, but more in the text would have helped.It was also interesting to read about the evolution of the museum itself. Public taste and methods of display change over time, sometimes not for the better. I can remember seeing Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (late 60s) at the Rijksmuseum in a low-ceiling boring contemporary space but now the gallery has been restored to its opulent grand space, caryatids and all. I wonder what the Louvre also lost in those years of sleek and modern circa the 1950s.Despite my wish for more visuals, I was transported and now need to spend days or weeks investigating the building as well as the art.Note: this book is about the buildings and the history, not the art. And it is serious history, not a light historical novel. Many bad reviews are from people who wanted something different. It’s too bad they leave a poor rating when they bought the wrong book - it’s not a fair judgement.

Since I will never be able to see this in person, this is a fabulous way to enjoy what the Louvre offers. The photography and descriptions are wonderful. I am grateful for this ability to see the contents of this special museum.

A very detailed account of the history of the Louvre and by necessity the history of Paris. Recommened mostly for the dedicated reader; the book covers a lot of ground. For readers interested in the minutia it is a very well presented and written book.

Since I cannot travel to the Louvre right now due to COVID-19, this was a great way to learn about it before my next visit. The history of the buildings is well explained. The author obviously did immense research so the book is a bit of a slow read because of details. I kept turning to the inside covers to view a diagram that shows when different sections were built. Two suggestions would have made this book better. One, the text often referred to areas that are ruins or no longer exist, thus they are not on the front diagram so I could not quite figure out where they were. Second, the author mentions that readers should go online to see high quality versions of paintings or images he refers to, and I did that. But the black and white photos he does include needed tweaking to improve brightness and contrast. He chose good examples, we just can't see them. I learned a lot from this book and recommend it to lovers of the Louvre and Paris.

One would have thought the history of one of the world's great museums would be filled with anecdote and fascinating trivia. Sadly not so. This is a history of the architecture of the buildings that have stood on the site of the Louvre in painstaking detail and a great deal of speculation. Even so it could have maintained a higher level of interest if it wasn't marred by a great deal of repetition and a prose style that would extract tedium from a description of a Roman orgy. For architecture buffs this is by the author's admission largely a summary of a magisterial 4 volume history by another writer.

I'm an art freak but I was bored by this.