Louvre-Lens

The opening of the Louvre-Lens is an exceptional opportunity to rethink the centuries-old relation-ship between the collections in the Louvre Museum and its visitors. This publication presents the out-standing instances in this innovative project, made possible by the creation, over a former pithead, of a new architectural complex by the Japanese firm SANAA and its internationally renowned architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.

At the heart of this museum is the « Galerie du Temps », whose design was entrusted to Studio Adrien Gardère. It presents 205 exhibits from all the departments in the Louvre in a single space. Displayed in chronological order, these works have previously always been seen in separate exhibition spaces, being issued from different civilisations, schools or techniques.

The « Galerie du Temps » offers a comparative and transversal view of the history of the arts, spanning the period from the invention of writing in Mesopotamia in the 4th miliennium BC to the Industrial Revolution in the mid-13th century. On this journey through different civilisations, the gallery allows visitors to compare universally recognised masterpieces, such as Gudea, Prince of Lagash, the Statuette of Tuy, the Discophoros, the Angel's Head mosaic from the basilica in Torcello, the portrait of Baldassare Castiglione by Raphaël, the Bather by Falconet and Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix.

This guide to the Louvre-Lens discusses and reproduces in their entirety the works exhibited in the « Galerie du Temps », allowing us to prolong and deepen our visual encounter with art and history.