Day 12.   Thursday, November 11, 2025

I did not know that the Louvre had a satellite museum.  It is located in Lens, which is about 25 minutes from Arras.  There is free parking and the museum is free to visit.  We arrive early afternoon and walk up a tree lined lane to the entrance to the museum.

The first thing we see on entering the museum is this Gothic Bulldozer. It is very intricate and difficult to photograph.  Zoom in for a closer look.Downstairs is an exhibit of Ukrainian Icons. Today the term «icon» refers primarily to paintings made with tempera (egg-bound pigments) on a prepared wood panel. Icons are also characterised by the use of gold leaf.  Museums around the world are safekeeping artwork from the Uraine until the war ends. The Louvre-Lens has four of Ukraine’s Icon paintings on display. This is The Last Judgement by Theodore Poulakis, 1661.

Alongside this exhibition space is a glass wall that allows visitors to view works in the restoration area of the Museum.The main exhibit at the museum is The Gallery of Time.

The Gallery of Time is an original showcase for a variety of art forms from different civilisations, all of which come together in an open-plan layout covering some 3,000 square metres. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the story of more than 5,000 years of human history and artistic creation. The Gallery of Time takes visitors on a chronological journey from the 4th millennium BCE to the 19th century, drawing on the collections of the Musée du Louvre and on other works which combine to tell a story of human creation, from the earliest recorded times to the most recent.

 

This is the beginning of The Gallery of Time. The first exhibit is the Roc-de-Sers, a stone with a carved horse that was part of a frieze found in a shallow cave in the south west of France. It is from 18,000 BC.

Some views of more than 250 pieces of art on display in this huge gallery.

And here, in no particular order, are a few of the pieces that we found especially interesting.

Francois Rude, Christ on the Cross.  Rude started this marble sculpture in 1885 but died before it was completed.  His student and nephew Jean Baptiste Paul Cabet completed it.  I found it very moving, and marvelled at being able to carve the crown of thorns in marble!

The Martyrdom of Saint Hippolyte, Cathedral of Sant-Denis, France, c. 1225-1250,  My first thought seeing this was what would it feel like to be pulled apart by horses? Egyptian Tomb Portrait of a Woman c. 150 AD.  I love these tomb paintings.  We saw several of them years ago when we visited Egypt.  Pieter Boel, c.1669-1671 Triple study of an Ostrich. 

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Paris 1714-1785, The Child and the Cage and The Girl with a Bird and an Apple. I fell in love with this two cherubic statues.  The dimples and folds in their skin were so incredibly life-like.

Élisabeth-Sophie Chéron, (1648-1711), 1672 Self Portrait.  This is the oldest self portrait of a French female artist in the possession of a Museum.

The Marching Player, 1063 AD. This statue is a replica of a Greek bronze original created around 440-400 BC.  I love the detail in his feet and toes.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Milan, c. 1527-1593. We have seen other work by this artist…it is pretty distinctive. This is Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Rembrandt van Eijn, 1640-1660, Venus et L’Amour

Mourner’s Mask, New Caledonia c.1850

This was the last piece in the Gallery of Time.  A painting by Paul Delaroche, 1885, The Young Martyr.  A painting of a young woman who was killed for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.

We have a much needed tea break. I asked how big the tea was and was assured that it was very big…well, this rather ‘very large” cup of tea was €5.50!  Bob finds a spot to read and I go back to the gallery to do some sketching.  They aren’t the best sketches but I had such an enjoyable time doing them.  Two people asked if they could take a photo…people are always interested in what I am drawing.

We stay until the museum closes at six and we are surprised to see it is raining outside.  The Louvre -Lens is a very modern building, so different than the Louvre in Paris.  We really enjoyed the Gallery In Time”. It was interesting, and not as overwhelming as the Louvre.