On Thursday April 26, 2007 I went to the Louvre; here are some thoughts that I had during my visit.
The Mona Lisa is smaller than I think of it (and even though I have seen it before, I forgot its size). It is stripped of most of its mystery and power by the horde in front of it.
It is astounding how many illiterate and even blind people come to see the Mona Lisa. There are signs everywhere with words and symbols indicating that film and video are prohibited, but hardly anyone with a camera pays attention. Or they think that the rules don't apply to them (one woman said to her companion (father?) that it was OK because she was taking the picture with her cell phone, and it's not a camera.) The guards do make some effort in this room, but not at all in other rooms with this prohibition.
So what's the point of the no photography/video prohibition? If the point is preservation, then the Louvre is a disgrace and failing humanity. Is death by a thousand million flashes better than instantaneous destruction by other barbarians? If the point of the prohibition is to protect the Louvre's reproduction revenue, it's just ludicrous: for the Mona Lisa especially, there are so many readily available images that there is effectively no barrier to amateur use. Besides, the Musée d'Orsay allows non-flash photos/video of its paintings (Van Gogh, Monet).
Where else but the Mona Lisa room would so many people walk blithely past masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese? Where else would TT&V be shoved into corners?
There are many paintings by Veronese, but his "Wedding at Cana" is really quite something. However, it cannot be viewed at the proper distance because of the Mona Lisa smack in the middle of the room. The great architect Palladio designed the original site of a monastery's dining room with the view of the painting in mind.
The crowds are not overwhelming now at the end of April, especially when I'm sitting on a bench in a corner. It is nice to have isolated resting places tucked away here and there, as in the Goya room alcove.
In general, the signage is OK, though it is only in French. The Prado in Madrid has a lot more information with its paintings.
The Venus de Milo was in a temporary space, due to construction. She has a somewhat masculine face from certain angles. It is OK to photograph her (I didn't), presumably because she's a statue, but this then returns to the Louvre's role in protecting its paintings. The guides stand against the back wall barely looking at the statue as they give their spiel through a headset via radio to their groups.
Even though I didn't get an audio guide or a guidebook, I did have things and rooms I wanted to see from looking at the map. However, for some reason, I kept getting turned — no compass, I guess. Anyway, I ended up seeing some fun things in my wanderings (some of which were also because routes were closed due to construction). Here are some examples:
May [the goddess] Ishtar regard with favor the scribe who does not alter this tablet and who places it back in the library, and may she denounce with anger he who removes it from the temple...