The Louvre has four exhibitions on now and three opening this autumn, from Mesopotamian waterworks to a Zurbarán retrospective. If you are planning Louvre guided tours on a late night, here is each show with its dates, its room, how long it takes and whether the ticket covers it.
Dates and rooms move. The museum can change a show's rooms or close them for a day. Check the museum's exhibitions list before you go, and see the top Louvre night tours for the permanent collection.
Every show below is in the museum ticket. Only the pair in the Hall Napoléon asks you to book a time slot for it, and one slot covers both. The museum is open until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, so a show of 45 minutes fits after an early-evening tour that ends inside.
20 May 2026 – 15 March 2027
Where: Richelieu wing, room 230, and through the Near Eastern Antiquities in Sully and Richelieu.
What it is: How ancient Mesopotamia first tamed its two rivers: canals, bridges, aqueducts and artificial lakes, and what they did to the land.
Why you would go: It spreads through the Near Eastern Antiquities, the department of the Cour Khorsabad (room 229). On Wednesdays rooms 227 to 230 may close for maintenance.
Time to allow: 45 minutes.
Ticket: In the museum ticket.
24 June 2026 – 31 December 2026
Where: Richelieu wing, decorative arts rooms 502-503, 505, 507 and 519.
What it is: Some 50 objects from the Islamic Art department, 9th to 17th century, set among the European decorative arts they inspired, while that department is closed for refurbishment.
Why you would go: It is the only way to see the Islamic collection this year. The rooms may close on a Wednesday, so choose a Friday.
Time to allow: 30 minutes.
Ticket: In the museum ticket.
26 June 2026 – 11 January 2027
Where: Sully wing, Level 1, room 605.
What it is: A hundred pieces of French silver and precious metalwork, 16th to 18th century, given to the museum in November 2025.
Why you would go: A one-room detour of a quarter of an hour on the first floor of Sully, shown with the museum's own silver and ceramics.
Time to allow: 15 minutes.
Ticket: In the museum ticket.
24 September 2026 – 14 December 2026
Where: Sully wing, Salle de la Chapelle.
What it is: Two artists who had studios in the museum for two years show what came of it: Attia a film and an installation, Peyton paintings and drawings after works in the collection.
Why you would go: It opened on 24 September 2026: two living artists answering the collection.
Time to allow: 45 minutes.
Ticket: In the museum ticket.
7 October 2026 – 25 January 2027
Where: Hall Napoléon.
What it is: The first large Zurbarán retrospective since 1987–1988, organised with the National Gallery, London and the Art Institute of Chicago: monastery paintings, portraits and still lifes, and his influence on Manet, Picasso and Juan Gris.
Why you would go: The autumn's big show. It opens on a Wednesday late night with a concert in the auditorium.
Time to allow: 1 hour 15 minutes.
Ticket: €22 or €32 with a time slot; one ticket covers Sculpting Colour too.
7 October 2026 – 25 January 2027
Where: Hall Napoléon, beside the Zurbarán show.
What it is: Painted wooden religious sculpture from 17th-century Spain, lent by the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid, with Gregorio Fernández's processional float of five life-size figures at eye level.
Why you would go: It is shown with the painter's retrospective, so give the pair two hours on their own.
Time to allow: 45 minutes.
Ticket: The same time-slot ticket as the Zurbarán show.
4 November 2026 – 3 May 2027
Where: Mezzanine Napoléon.
What it is: More than 300 photographs of the Louvre itself, from the invention of photography to Robert Polidori: the galleries, the works, the war years and the visitors.
Why you would go: The museum warns there may be a queue to get in. Go early in the evening.
Time to allow: 1 hour 15 minutes.
Ticket: In the museum ticket.
The Zurbarán show opens on a Wednesday late night, 7 October 2026, and closes on 25 January 2027. Its concert season runs alongside it in the auditorium; the dates are on the evening events page.
The top evening tours cover the famous works in two or three hours, with the ticket in the fare. Then stay on for a show.
No show opening in 2027 is on the museum's programme yet. Louvre Photo runs until 3 May 2027 and Primeval Waters until 15 March 2027, so a spring visit still has two exhibitions. Watch the museum's exhibitions list for the spring programme.
An evening gives you from 6pm to 9pm, with last entry at 8pm. Here is how each show fits.
| Exhibition | Time to allow | Wednesday evening | Friday evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primeval Waters | 45 minutes | Rooms 227–230 may close | Open |
| Affinities | 30 minutes | Rooms may close | Open |
| Michel Lacoste's donation | 15 minutes | Open | Open |
| Hosts at the Louvre | 45 minutes | Open | Open |
| The Zurbarán retrospective | 1 hour 15 minutes | Open, time slot needed | Open, time slot needed |
| Sculpting Colour | 45 minutes | Same slot as the retrospective | Same slot |
| Louvre Photo | 1 hour 15 minutes | Open; there may be a queue | Open; there may be a queue |
The two Hall Napoléon shows together need about two hours, which is a whole late night on its own. The one-room silver show and the Islamic objects in Richelieu are the ones to add after a tour.
| Exhibition | Ran |
|---|---|
| Martin Schongauer: The beautiful immortal | 8 April – 20 July 2026 |
| Michelangelo Rodin: Living bodies | 15 April – 20 July 2026 |
| The Carracci Drawings: The Making of the Farnese Gallery | 5 November 2025 – 2 February 2026 |
| Jacques-Louis David | 15 October 2025 – 26 January 2026 |
The two summer shows closed on 20 July 2026. The museum's list of past exhibitions keeps the rest.
| Exhibition | Opens | Closes | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts at the Louvre: Kader Attia and Elizabeth Peyton | 24 September 2026 | 14 December 2026 | Sully wing |
| Affinities: Islamic Art Wonders in the Department of Decorative Arts | 24 June 2026 | 31 December 2026 | Richelieu wing |
| Michel Lacoste's donation to the Musée du Louvre | 26 June 2026 | 11 January 2027 | Sully wing |
| Zurbarán (1598–1664) | 7 October 2026 | 25 January 2027 | Hall Napoléon |
| Sculpting Colour | 7 October 2026 | 25 January 2027 | Hall Napoléon |
| Primeval Waters: Lessons from Mesopotamia | 20 May 2026 | 15 March 2027 | Richelieu wing |
| Louvre Photo | 4 November 2026 | 3 May 2027 | Mezzanine Napoléon |
Dates, rooms, visit lengths and ticket rules come from each exhibition's own page on the museum's website, checked 28 September 2026.
You meet by the VOYAGE sign at the metro exit on rue de Rivoli, and the two hours count the walk in and security. Past the famous rooms, the guide's route reaches works by Michelangelo, Veronese and David.
From $175 per person
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A private guide takes you in with pre-booked tickets on an evening opening, from the Denon wing through the Napoleon-era rooms to Richelieu. When the guide goes, you stay on alone until closing.
From $346 per person For a party of two; the per-person fare falls as your group grows
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An evening private to your family from 5:30pm, in which the guide turns the galleries into games and quizzes for the children. The adults' tickets are in the fare and under-18s enter free; food and drinks are not.
From $360 per person Quoted for two adults and one child; children 6 to 17 book at a lower rate
Check AvailabilityNext: see the evening concerts and free Fridays, plan the permanent collection, or compare every tour on Louvre Tours.