Art in Paris!

H

Is this "Art" to you??

This is located in the lower level of the

Arc de Triomphe

which (I think) everyone knows

is totally dedicated to Napoleon

and all things "French Army"

This sculpture, however, 

is fairly famous.

I had seen pictures of this before, throughout my life.

Supposedly, the sculptor had his wife scream over and over

so he could sculpt it "just right".

It is NOT one of my fave pieces of art....but it IS art.....

The following pictures, however, do represent the type of art I enjoy......art that is not paintings, I mean.  I used to think, when I was a very young child, that "art" meant paintings.  As I grew older, I learned that this is not so......much to my delight.

I find "art" in just about anything nowadays.....from the glory of a sunrise that our Creator, the Greatest Artist made,  to the glory of the pyramid at the Louvre (man made by God-given gifts)

.....come stroll with me as we glimpse into some art at the most famous museum in the world......my family toured the Musee de Louvre on our 3rd full day in Paris.  It was a Wednesday which means the French children only had school in the morning so there were several local families visiting the museum as well as thousands of tourists and tour groups.  We did LOTS of walking this day but you can sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy the view....all without getting to your feet! (and yes...I will show some paintings!)

Here it is!  The world-famous pyramid at the Louvre, made even more famous due to Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" (a great read by the way...just keep in mind that it is FICTION!)

The glass pyramid was designed by the American architect I.M. Pei in 1989.  Most Parisians hated it at first...just like they hated another monument 100 years earlier (Eiffel Tower!).

It was quite difficult getting this entire pyramid in a pic without hundreds of people in the way.....I believe my teenager captured a better shot and once her pics are uploaded onto my laptop, I will show you the ones she took.  She is a much better photographer than I am.  Again, because it is part of her "art"!  (and the fact that she is taking an upper level photography class at her high school as part of her graphic design major).  I decided to do this close-up to avoid the strangers becoming part of  my photo!

There were also a couple of smaller pyramids in the main courtyard.  The Louvre is a U-shaped palace.  It is impossible to tour the entire museum, which is the largest museum in the Western world, in just one day.  We hit the "famous" specialties of the Louvre (Greek Sculpture, Italian Paintings and French Paintings)  We also spent most of the evening in the Egyptian section, as that was the area my teen most wanted to see.  This was the day we dressed up for touring....Claire refused to wear a skirt so we accepted her black pants!  It is rare that you see French people in jeans unless it is late at night.

Courtney and Claire pose in front of

one of my fave bathtubs....yes...

there were TONS of marble tubs in this section of the Louvre.

We are in the Greek section

which is located in the south side of the Louvre.

"Winged Victory" as this sculpture is known is actually titled "Victoire de Samothrace") and it is from around 190 B.C.  This woman with wings, poised on the prow of a ship, was once on a hilltop to represent a naval victory.  Originally, her right arm was stretched high with a finger pointed up like "we're number one".  The hand is actually in a glass case....the French discovered it in Turkey in 1950, about a century after the statue was discovered.   This had hordes of tourists around it.  It is one of the more famous sculptures in the museum.

Here is an example of an Italian painting.  We saw many paintings of Christ on the Cross, the Virgin Mary, and other scenes of Jesus and the disciples.  Claire noted that the Italians did NOT paint anything about Jesus being resurrected.  We didn't see any empty tombs or crosses.  I thought that was interesting that she noted this.  I reminded her that Catholicism was predominant over there and that the paintings would reflect this part of Christianity.  She thought that was not good.  It was amusing to hear the perspective of an 11 year old who prefers that things be "black and white". (meaning idealogically!)  We did enjoy seeing the sculptures more than the Italian paintings....that is until we came to this one.........

"Mona Lisa".

When we entered the room where this most famous Italian painting is located,

we just couldn't believe our eyes.

The 4 of us started laughing immediately.

There were people waiting in a line that was 4 lines long.....4 lines of people snaking around the room, to get a view of this Da Vinci painting.

We discovered that one didn't need to wait in line....all we had to do was get through the throngs of tourists vying for a view, and head to the roped off front. There we snapped our shots and just laughed  at how ridiculously small this painting really is.

It is small!

When Leonardo came to France by invite, he packed this painting he had done of Lisa del Giocondo,the wife of a rich merchant.

It was titled "La Gioconda"  by Francois I.

The title is her last name and a play on the Italian word for "happy woman"

(La Joconde in French).

We know it as the Italian contraction for "my lady Lisa"

Or "mona lisa".

On the wall behind us, facing the Mona Lisa, was the best painting, I believe, by any Italian Painter.  It is "The Marriage at Cana".  Unfortunately, I could not get a picture of it...first of all it was mammoth.  2nd, there were just way too many people in the room.  It was a spectacular painting.  If you have a chance, google it....it should come up at the Louvre website.  It is an amazing painting done by the Italian artist Veronese in 1562.  Jesus is smack dab in the middle of the painting.  It really depicts the celebration of that wedding when Jesus turned the water into wine. 

 It was my favorite painting in the entire museum.

This was part of a ceiling in one room.....I enjoyed the art work on the Louvre ceilings more than I did the work at the Chateau de Versailles!  Claire agreed with me!

And here she is!  The Venus de Milo....truly the most famous sculpture at the Louvre.  Note the throngs of tourists here.  She is just amazing to look at.  You felt as though you could reach right out and touch the folds of her dress....it is an amazing piece of art...and hard to believe the skirt is not cloth, but rather, stone. She is the "goddess of love...(Aphrodite) and done in about 100 B.C. Her well-proportioned body represents balance and orderliness in the Greek universe.  This is a rare Greek original.   (many Greek sculptures are actually Roman copies). 






Here is a partial front view of the Venus de Milo.  She is simply stunning, n'est pas?

 This is one of the most famous sculptures in the world......and we were so close....I loved studying it!!

Claire, 

trying to pose like the Venus de Milo!

Courtney took this pic of Dave and I next to the Venus de Milo.  I wish he had put down the bag!

and now Courtney takes a turn posing like the goddess of love....she looks so similar,doesn't she??!

  We did enjoy the Greek section very much.  We spent the entire morning in this one section....and then moved on to the Italian paintings, 2 of which I have shown you, above.

The 3 Graces.

Daughters of Zeus.

Representing beauty, charm, and joy.

There are several versions of this.

The original is from the sculptor Canova.

(this is not the original...

this is an example of a Roman copy

of a Greek original)

Need I say more?

Truly a magnificent piece of art.

I have loved this piece since first seeing it

 in an art history book

during my college days....

the French really seem to like it...you will soon see why I say this....

if not in this post, then in a later one.....

keep looking!

A replica of the Parthenon

It was very nice...this picture does not capture the beauty of this piece very well......

and now....let's take a break for lunch in the "World Restaurant" section.

Inside the Glass Pyramid....

the main lobby of the museum.

Note the crowds!

This is just one small corner of the main entrance.

Dave had food from Spain plus Orangina of course!  Our new fave "soda"...this is the French's idea of soda anyways and it is so much better for us than regular soda.  It is orange juice with mineral water.....sparkly and fizzy but way less sugar and sodium.  We are trying to find it here in NY...so far we haven't had any luck. I just bought the ingredients to make our own. (orange juice concentrate and mineral water).

Courtney and I had food from Italy (it was not that good...it was like fast food Italian....)and Claire had food from the Middle East:  cold cous-cous.  She didn't care for it..she likes my cous-cous better.  We should have stuck to the French food but we were trying to save money on food this day!

One view of the Louvre

It used to be a palace, 

before a museum.

It was the Royal Palace

and it took 8 centuries

to build, as it was built in stages.

It was Europe's first public museum.

Google the history on the Louvre...it is fascinating...

I was happy that we had purchased a good Paris guidebook 

which explains alot of the history behind these monuments

and museums and what to look for.

Dave and the girls in front of the inverted pyramid.  This was fun to see.....we are now going to stroll through some ancient artifacts.

Welcome to Egypt!

This was Courtney's favorite section.  By now my feet were getting very tired.....but...there was so much to see...I was thanking God for benches and chairs placed around the various rooms.  This section was less crowded, too, which made it nice. This is one of the many sphinx that we saw.

Claire coming out of a tomb.  Keep in mind that when a Pharoah died, the servants/slaves were buried with him....gruesome thought....

Here are some pieces of Egyptian jewelry.....hundreds of years old Before Christ.  Actually, probably thousands of years old.....

Ancient musical instruments:  a type of tambourine on the left, and a large drum on the right.  I really enjoyed viewing the various instruments....just the thought that they are thousands of years old is mind-boggling.....

Ancient game pieces:  note the pieces of dice

This looked to be what is similar to our 

game of Cribbage.

My feet are tired....as our Claire's.  We will continue our stroll through Musee de Louvre, a demain! (tomorrow)

BON SOIR! (good night)