The collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, mostly statues, is one of the finest in the world. The biggest crowd-pullers in the museum, after the Mona Lisa, are here: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, at the top of Denon's great staircase, and the Venus de Milo (room 12). Venus is surrounded by hordes of less familiar Aphrodites, from the graceful marble head known as the "Kaufmann Head" and the delightful Venus of Arles – both early copies of the work of the great sculptor Praxiteles – to the strange Dame d'Auxerre.This section of the museum is housed in Lescot's original wing. In the Salle des Caryatides (room 17), which houses Roman copies of Greek works, the musicians' balcony is supported by four giant caryatids, sculpted in 1550 by Jean Goujon. Just beyond, the Henri II staircase is carved with the initials H and D for Henri and his mistress Diane de Poitiers, along with symbols of the hunt recalling the Roman goddess Diana. In the Roman section a sterner style takes over, but there are some very attractive mosaics from Asia Minor and luminous frescoes from Pompeii and Herculaneum. At the time of writing, work was in progress to turn the Cour Visconti (Denon's mirror image of the Cour Puget) into a courtyard for works of late antiquity. Works on the two lower levels are complemented by smaller groupings by medium on the first floor including a daunting assemblage of Greek pottery and a section on Greek and Roman glass and precious objects, room 33 of which has a heart-stirring ceiling decoration of blue and white birds painted by Georges Braque in 1953.
| 