The opening of the Louvre-Lens is an exceptional opportunity

to rethink the centuries-old relationship between

the collections in the Louvre Museum and its visitors. This

publication presents the outstanding instances in this

innovative project, made possible by the création, over a

former pithead, of a new architectural complex by the Japanese

firm SANAA and its internationally renowned architects

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.

At the heart of this museum is the « Galerie du Temps »,

whose design was entrusted to Studio Adrien Gardère.

It présents 205 exhibits from all the departments in the

Louvre in a single space. Displayed in chronological order,

these works have previously always been seen in separate

exhibition spaces, being issued from différent civilisations,

schools or techniques.

The « Galerie du temps » offers a comparative and transversal

view of the history of the arts, spanning the period

from the invention of writing in Mesopotamia in the 4th

millennium BC to the Industrial Révolution in the mid-19th

century. On this journey through different civilisations,

the gallery allows visitors to compare universally recognised

masterpieces, such as Gudea, Prince of Lagash ,

the statuette of Queen Tiye Beside King Amenhotep III ,

the Discophoros , the Angel's Head mosaic from the basilica in Torcello, Self-Portrait with a Friend by Raphael, the

Bather by Falconet and Oedipus and the Sphinx by Ingres.

This guide to the Louvre-Lens discusses and reproduces

in their entirety the works exhibited in the « Galerie du

Temps », allowing us to prolong and deepen our visual

encounter with art and history.