Adventures in the Louvre by Elaine Sciolino
“I had to learn how to visit the Louvre” goes an early line in this exceptional book, and I wish I’d had it with me when I visited the overwhelming museum-palace years ago. Simply and personally written, in short, punchy chapters, liberally sprinkled with excellent reproductions of some of the most important works, Sciolino blends access to everyone from curators, directors, guards, and fire fighters with history and (very) personal reflection. Brutally, amusingly blunt at times (“…the subsequent history of France in the nineteenth century is both incoherent and confusing….”!), Adventures in the Louvre is composed of bite-sized chapters on the history, architecture, pop culture, and even global significance, which makes it much more manageable than the museum itself, and will be in my luggage next time I travel to Paris. There’s even a chapter on ghosts, as well as a fascinating aside on things to do around the museum when it is closed on Tuesdays, a fact which would make this book worth its cover price alone!) It’s also filled with fascinating trivia: who knew the museum was once named the Museé Napoléon, or that the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass, or that Beyoncé recently made it cool?) I’m already salivating at the thought of a fully illustrated version showing every piece mentioned – and there are a lot! A masterpiece worthy of its subject!
Adventures in the Louvre by Elaine Sciolino, (List Price: $29.99, W. W. Norton, 9781324021407, April 2025)
Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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