Italian Renaissance Painting in the Louvre

1. Ancient Rome and Grece Sculptures

The rediscovery of the ancient Roman and Greek sculptures was one of the main driving forces of the Italian Renaissance.

The tour starts with Polykleitos, who, in ancient Greece, Classical Period, defined the rules to idealize male body shape in sculpture, and then continues with Praxiteles, who, at the end of the Classical Period, had quite a comparable impact on the female body representation.

Our route will typically also cross two famous Hellenistic period masterpieces: the Venus de Milo and the Nike of Samothrace.

Also, see our blog post: Story of the Venus de Milo.

Paolo Uccello, The Battle of San Romano. An amazing work of kinetic art.

The Coronation of the Virgin by Fra Angelico. Despite his conservatism, Fra Angelico is considered one of the first to abandon the gold ground style and develop naturalistic backgrounds. 

5. High Renaissance

Masterpiece examples

• The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1501-1519).
• Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci (1513-1516).
• La Belle Jardinière by Rafael (1505-1508).
• Self-Portrait with a Friend by Rafael (1518-1520).
• The Pastoral Concert attributed to Titian a/o Giorgione (c. 1509).
• Woman with a Mirror by Titian (c. 1515).
• Man with a Glove by Titian (c. 1520).

La Belle Jardinière oil on panel by Raphael (finished by Ghirlandaio’s soon Ridolfo).

Focus on the “Pastoral Concert”

The painting is famous not only because of the debate about its attribution to Titian or  Giorgione(the legendary first high Renaissance Venetian painter) but also because centuries later, Edouard Maney referred to this work to create his very transgressive Luncheon on the Grass painting (Orsay Museum).

Nowadays, the Pastoral Concert is attributed to Titian but was previously attributed to Giorgione. This High Renaissance work is located in Salle des Etats, like all the Venetian paintings; the room is worst much more than a long line for a selfie in front of the Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa stands in Salle des Etats). 

7. Baroque

A rupture with mannerism: The Fortune Teller by Caravaggio, (c. 1594).
The Catholic counter-reformation in art: Resurrection by Annibale Carracci., (1593)
Naturalism & Tenebrism: The Death of the Virgen by Caravaggio, (1606).
The Roman base of French Baroque: Nicolas Poussin.

Also, see our blog post about Michelangelo Caravaggio in the Louvre.

Also, see our 17th century Louvre Painting Tour.

8. Mona Lisa (Des Etats Room)

The Salle des Etats (Des Etats Room) is the most famous and always the most crowded of the Louvre, as it is there that the Mona Lisa is shown.

We don’t comment on the Mona Lisa painting as it is forbidden by the Louvre (too many people). So there is often an extensive unfriendly line to see Mona Lisa. But if you want to look closer, you can line up there just after the tour ends there.

If you follow the Italian Renaissance tour as an evening tour (Wednesday evening or Friday evening), which is more than recommended, you may have the chance to deal with a more petite or even tiny line.