About this tour
Most visitors to the Louvre spend their time in the painting galleries and walk through the sculpture courtyards without stopping. This is one of the great missed opportunities in any museum visit. The Cour Marly, a vast glass-roofed courtyard lined with the marble horses and monumental groups that once stood in Louis XIV's gardens, is breathtaking in its scale and ambition.
This tour moves through the full history of French sculpture, from the elegant court art of the Renaissance to the raw emotional power of the 19th century. It is a tour that tends to surprise even visitors who thought they knew the Louvre well.
The Cour Marly — one of the most spectacular interior spaces in any museum in the world
What you will see
The tour centres on the Cour Marly and the Cour Puget, two great glass-roofed courtyards housing the finest pieces of French outdoor sculpture from the 17th and 18th centuries. We also move through the rooms dedicated to Renaissance and medieval French sculpture, and to the extraordinary bronze work of the 17th century.
If there is a particular sculptor or period you are most drawn to, mention it in your request. While nothing can be promised, every effort will be made.
Who is this tour for?
This tour is a wonderful choice for visitors with an interest in sculpture, architecture, or the decorative arts of the French court, and equally for anyone who simply wants to discover a side of the Louvre that most visitors overlook entirely. It is also particularly appealing for those who appreciate the physical presence and scale of three-dimensional art.
Availability
The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. The French sculpture galleries are also closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Important notice
The Louvre is a living museum. Rooms may occasionally close without notice for operational reasons, and works are regularly moved for restoration, loans, or temporary exhibitions. The three great icons of the collection — the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace — are on permanent display and accessible whenever the museum is open. For any other specific work, if it is unavailable on the day, an equally fascinating alternative will always be proposed.