The museum is a central landmark of the city displaying nearly 35,000 objects from the 6th millennium BC to the 19th century AD. Only a small part of them are being displayed at the time on the area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet) of the museum.

With an exhibition of 537 paintings, the museum was first opened on the 10th of August 1793. After three years, sue to structural problems, the museum was closed until 1801. The museum's collection continued to grew under Napoleon, Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces.

Since 2008, the collection has been divided in eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.