The Louvre is definitely the most famous art gallery of them all, to the point where the vast majority of people can’t even name another by name! It has become synonymous with the best of the best, the highest calibre of works of art worthy of being preserved through the ages. Even people who know absolutely nothing about art whatsoever can still name at least a couple of the pieces exhibited behind the walls of the Louvre – the “Venus de Milo”, “Lady Liberty Leading the People”, and, of course, the “Mona Lisa”, which could very well be the most famous painting of all time despite the fact that its original tends to be fairly modest in both size and scope. Surrounded by so much greatness in one place, many tend to overlook the fact that the museum holds a lot more masterpieces than they suspected! Here are a few pieces of art which you may overlook, but shouldn’t.

”Raft of the Medusa”, by Théodore Géricault

While this painting may be very familiar to art students everywhere, you barely see it mentioned in popular culture, which is an absolute shame considering just how spectacular it is. The wreck of the ship “Medusa” is one of the biggest disasters to have ever happened at sea, second only to the Titanic – when an incompetent captain directed his ship into a storm on its very first night, only a handful of people managed to survive on a single raft. The survivors quickly had to turn to cannibalism in order to last, and when rescue arrived thirteen days later, only fifteen men were left. Entire books have been written about the tragedy, some even by the survivors themselves, and yet a single look at Théodore Géricault’s painting is enough to tell you all you need to know. Despite how aesthetically pleasing the composition is, the despair and suffering of the survivors is very clearly evident, the plight on each and every single one of them narrated to the viewer simply through their body language. All of the pieces fit together to form a gigantic (five by seven meters) pictures of human anguish which must be seen in person to be fully experienced.

”The Coronation of Napoleon”, by Jacques-Louis David

To say that Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most controversial figures of history would be a massive understatement. He brought a lot of good things to the world (you know how the Western world runs mostly on democracy right now? You can thank Napoleon for that), but he also brought a lot of bad things to it. Some historians think the bad outweigh the good, others disagree, but whatever the case may be, there’s absolutely no dispute that the representation of his coronation, depicted by Jacques-Louis David, is truly among the greatest pieces of art in the world. First of all, the painting is absolutely HUGE – it’s 6 by 10 meters, putting even “Raft of the Medusa” to shame! It also features dozens upon dozens of characters attending the coronation, seventeen of which can be very clearly identified as historical figures which were truly present during the actual event. It’s honestly shocking that it took less than two years to complete this massive work of art, from the time it was commissioned to its finishing touches, which only further speaks of the artist’s talent. Regardless of how you feel about Napoleon, make sure you don’t ignore this masterpiece the next time you visit the Louvre!