Louvre Retourner

Day 19 Thurs 16th Jan

Today I returned to the Louvre to explore the Denon wing which I did not see during our first visit.  The Christmas crowds were gone so it was quite pleasant but Maureen declined as she was in 'museum fatigue'. Some of the Denon Wing galleries that I viewed were:

• Italian Sculpture 16-19th Cent
• Estruscan and Roman Antiquities
• Northern European Sculpture 17-18th Cent 
• Italian Paintings 13-18th Cent
• Spanish Paintings
• French Paintings 14-17th Cent

Out of the many great works of art I saw there are some that I found particularly interesting

- The selection of Roman sculptures, sarcophagi, and other antiquities many from the Borghese collection in Rome.  Some of the intricate sculptures on the outside of the sarcophapi (tombs) revealed a lot about Roman life and customs

-The Etruscan civilisation flourished in Italy form 7th Cent BC - before the Romans.  Their terracotta sculptures, pottery and jewellery were striking.

- Italian paintings

Death of The Virgin

There were a series of paintings showing the emergence of the Renaissance style (Fra Angelico, Giotto,Botechelli) with an extensive collection of Renaissance paintings including works by Raphael, Caracci, Carravaggio and 5 paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci.  Apart from 'The Mona Lisa' one of the paintings with a story was 'The Death of the Virgin' by Caravaggio. It was commissioned in 1601 for the church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome, but was refused by the monks, who found it unworthy.  In the painting Mary lies reclined, clad in a simple red dress. The lolling head, the hanging arm, the swollen, spread feet: this is a raw and realistic view of the Virgin's mortal remains. The sacred character of the figure is evidenced only by a thin halo.  Caravaggio completely abandons the iconography traditionally used to indicate the holiness of the Virgin. In this cast-off body, nothing of the respectful representation found in devotional paintings remains.  His brutal view, very realistic and virtually devoid of holiness, provoked strong reactions by the Church and the public of his time.  The story was that the model for Mary was that of a dead prostitute fished out of the Tiber.  

-French paintings

Liberty Leading the People (1831)

There were a huge collection including quite a few depicting Napoleon I.  One of the very political ones was 'Liberty Leading the People' by Delacroix .  This depicted the Paris uprising of July 27-29, 1830, known as the Trois Glorieuses ("Three Glorious Days"), that was begun by republicans for violation of the Constitution by the Second Restoration government of Charles X, the last Bourbon king of France.  As a result of the uprising Charles was overthrown and replaced by Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans. Delacroix leaves no doubt about his political sympathies and includes bourgeoisie, peasants, students, factory workers and children in the republicans involved in the uprising.  This painting was very brave because Delacroix relied on commissions from royalists for his living. 

The Raft of Medusa

Another large work with strong political overtones was the Raft of Medusa by Géricault.  The painting depicts the wreck of a French Navy frigate off the coast of Senegal in 1816, with over 150 soldiers on board. It was captained by an officer of the reinstated Royalty who had not sailed for over twenty years and who ran the ship aground on a sandbank. Due to the shortage of lifeboats only 10 lives survived on the raft.  This painting was interpreted as a rebuke to the monarchy and supportive of a republican government. 

Later we both ventured to the La Fayette Galleries, the huge designer shopping complex close to where we stayed.  The shop assistants almost outnumbered shoppers but the service was ordinary -we had to wait 30 min for service for some jewellery for Maureen.  I felt sorry for them as I doubt whether they are paid much to harass customers and I had sympathy for one guy I watched whose whole job seemed to be cleaning the lenses of sunglasses that shoppers have tried on.

For our last meal we had a great meal next street over from our apartment at Le Saotico, 

96 Rue Richelieu.  I highly recommend it if you are in Paris.  I had goats cheese on toast for entree and a cod dish as a main with a great French red.