Content from Musée du Louvre

Master filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) transforms a portrait of the world-renowned museum into a magisterial, centuries-spanning reflection on the relation between art, culture and power.

Three tales, three ages, three worlds. At the time of Ancient Egypt, a young king becomes the first black pharaoh to deserve the hand of his loved one. During the French Middle Ages, a mysterious wild boy steals from the rich to give to the poor. In 18th-century Turkey, a prince of pastries and a princess of roses escape the palace to live their love.

Hsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth.

A close look at Alexander the Great - from Macedonia to India. Alexander the Great has always enjoyed a unique status in history. To the Greeks and Romans, he was a hero, to the Arabs, he was a prophet, to Westerners, he is a myth. Alexander the Great Hellenized the ancient world and spread Greek civilisation single-handedly throughout, as far as the borders of India, by relentlessly pursuing his sworn enemy Darius the Great, King of Persia. But what remains today of the "real" Alexander? Of his life and environment? Through the many depictions of the hero and the archaeological traces of his triumphant conquest, this film portrays the legendary figure, who has always been, and continues to be, a great source of inspiration, even for artists of today.

A guided tour through the corridors of the Louvre to closely contemplate the works of Leonardo in the company of the curators of the exhibition, Vincent Delieuvin and Louis Frank.

The art of drawing was of enormous importance in Ancient Egypt. Outline drawings made with a pen or brush formed the basis of all pictorial representations during the pharaonic period, whether paintings, bas-reliefs, statues or even architecture. Even Egyptian writing consisted exclusively of images. The art of drawing was practiced in Egypt for almost three millennia according to precisely defined rules. From Sakkara to the Valley of the Kings to the extensive collections of European museums, Bernard George's documentary provides an insight into the most beautiful works, their creation and their religious and magical significance, which played such an essential role in Egyptian civilization.

The title of the François Lunel film is the Buddhist proverb concluding by: "all is but illusion". His movie draws the Tsai Ming-Liang's face during the shooting of his movie Visage, which itself is also a movie within a movie.

In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the figure of the fool held a firm place in society and was omnipresent in art, as he embodied the fears of Europeans in a convulsive time of great discoveries and religious controversies.

On the mythical site of Saqqara, the Apis bulls were buried for more than a thousand years in the immense underground necropolis of the Serapheum. Discovered in 1850 by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, this place shelters a treasure of which a part is preserved in the Louvre. The collapse of the ceiling of one of the galleries had however prevented the archaeologist from venturing into the entire necropolis. More than 170 years later, the museum's Egyptologists are continuing the work of their famous predecessor. Investigating the cult of the Apis bull and the mysterious rituals that surrounded it, the team is especially looking for access to the unexplored parts, which have at least eight burial chambers, with the hope of finding intact tombs.

Narrator Steve Martin explains Vermeer's fall into obscurity and rebound into worldwide sensation, all while examining themes in his paintings, comparisons to Renaissance masters, and relevant history of Europe's politics and art market.

During the exhibition Splendors of the Oases of Uzbekistan at the Louvre, a journey to the mythical city of Samarkand, a fabulous tapestry of civilizations.

In 1990, the Louvre invited the French philosopher Jacques Derrida to create a visual and philosophical product based on the materials of the museum's exposition. The philosopher chose the image of a blind man in painting. In the film, Jacques Derrida reflects on the drawings of the Louvre's "Parti-pri" exposition. The director captures the emerging thought and, with the help of various representative means, allows us to see the rapprochement that Jacques Derrida establishes between the gesture of the artist and the gestures of the blind man.

A documentary about the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace, unquestionably one of the most complete expressions of Hellenistic sculpture

Based on original animation and selected iconographies throughout art history, this series of twenty episodes tells the Greek myths. An all-picture creation, which features the fascinating destinies of gods, heroes, and great figures of mythology.

Nabi, Rafaël and Mona are small but boy can they talk up a storm as they comment, in their own particular way, on all of the masterpieces in the wonderful museums of our lovely country. They will span the ages from classical painting to modern art and Islamic art. It’s a great, hassle-free way of brushing up on your Art and sounding really smart at your next milk and cookies cocktail.