When it comes to the excellence of their collections, the beauty of their galleries and the sheer breadth of their cultural significance, few museums on earth can match Paris’ monumental jewel, the Louvre. In 1953, when LIFE photographer Dmitri Kessel visited, many of the Louvre’s rooms had recently been reorganized and redecorated — but the intrinsic, inherent grandeur of the vast place (eight miles of galleries) remained undiminished.
Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of Kessel’s pictures of the scenes inside what LIFE unhesitatingly called “the world’s top museum” — a title to which, even today, six decades later, the wonderful, storied, glorious Louvre can arguably still lay claim.
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Not originally published in LIFE. Aerial view of the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Patrons view Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "Cleaning painting, which is upside down, a Louvre restorer tackles the central portion of Gericault's gigantic canvas, The Raft of the Medusa."Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Children take notes during a discussion of ancient Greek pottery at the Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Venus de Milo, the Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Married couple and their young daughter view the crown of King Louis XV at the Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. The Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. "Loading statue, worker places Roman carving of athlete on carriage to be taken to workshop where legs, put on by an earlier restorer, will be removed." Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Artists scrutinize their versions of a Titian portrait (left) and the Mona Lisa (right), Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. A portrait of Jeanne d'Aragon by Raphael, Louvre, 1953. Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNot originally published in LIFE. Louvre, 1953.Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
