Going to the Louvre museum was definitely on my list. I had
heard so much from my friends that I had to see explore it. The only hitch was
The Louvre (started in August 10, 1793) is one of the world’s largest museums
(with 70,000 pieces of art spread across more than 650,000 square feet of
gallery space). So two thoughts the word MUSEUM itself is so deterring and
secondly it is said that it takes a minimum of 3 days to spend 10 seconds on
each art work and if one were keen on studying each it would take 3 years.
For the ones who would say I am not a museum person, please
take my word for it you will truly enjoy every bit of the experience. The
museum being so big, I was amazed at the easy of buying tickets, the
information counters and guides. It was simplified for anyone of follow; well
with so many diverse visitors flowing in it couldn’t have been easier than
this.
The museum is in a U shape and is divided in three sections
of 3 floors which houses Egyptian antiquities, Near Eastern antiquities,
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, Islamic art, Sculpture, Decorative arts and
Paintings.
Now given the grandeur of place I knew I couldn’t cover all,
so I chose the best of what I knew. This is my modest try to give you a glimpse
of the Louvre through my lens.
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa has always been very mysterious to me. It gathers
a lot of interest around the world because its Leonardo Da Vinci’s most popular
works, plus thanks to Dan Brown’s novel the Da Vinci Code which talks about
hidden codes described in the novel.
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| The Mona Lisa |
The name of the painting, Mona Lisa was the result of a spelling error! The original name of the painting was Monna Lisa. Monna in Italian is a short form of Madonna, meaning 'My Lady'. The identity of the woman in the painting is still a mystery.
- Leonardo Da Vinci’s sexuality was never known. Some believe that it is the female form of Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
- In 1956, a man named Ugo Ungaza threw a stone at the painting. This resulted in a small damage on the paint around her left elbow.
- The painting is considered priceless and so it cannot be insured.
- A lot is said about the eyebrows of Mona Lisa, one such is that when the authorities were trying to restore the painting, the eyebrows got accidentally removed. However, some people believe that Leonardo Da Vinci never completed the painting and left it without the eyebrows.
- It is known that there are three different layers painted before the present version of the painting. One version has her hands clutching her arm instead of the chair in front of her.
Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the
Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804
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| Coronation of Napoleon |
The Coronation of Napoleon is a painting completed in 1807
by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon. The painting has
imposing dimensions, as it is almost ten metres wide by approximately six
metres tall. The crowning and the coronation took place at Notre-Dame de Paris,
a way for Napoleon to make it clear that he was a son of the Revolution.
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss
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| Psyche and Cupid |
This sculpture was commissioned in 1787 by Antonio Canova.
The sculpture represents god Cupid at the zenith of love and tenderness,
immediately after awakening the dead Psyche with a kiss. The story of Cupid and
Psyche is from the Lucius Apuleius' Latin novel The Golden Ass.
Venus de Milo
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| Venus de Milo |
Aphrodite of Milos better known as the Venus de Milo, is an
ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek
sculpture. Created sometime between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty (Venus to the Romans).
The Seated Scribe
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| The Seated Scribe |
This was in the Egyptian art section. The sculpture was discovered at Saqqara in 1850 and dated to the period of the 4th Dynasty, 2620–2500 BCE. The sculptor is still unknown and the sculpture gets special attention to the eyes.
Death of Sardanapalus
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| Death of Sardanapalus |
This one has a very interesting tale to it. The story is
very sad and tragic and is depicted to perfection by Eugene Delacroix.
Sardanapalus was the last king of Nineveh, a city in between
the Mediterranean Sea and the Caspian Sea (present day Iraq). He decided to
take matters into his own hands after learning that his city was under attack
by a rebellious enemy group. Instead of facing a humiliating defeat,
Sardanapalus decided he himself would destroy his prized possessions.
All is possessions and treasures - including Myrrha, horses,
and slaves would all be burned and destroyed.
Liberty Leading the People
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| Liberty leading the people |
This painting celebrated the day, during the 1830
Revolution, that the people rose and fought for their liberty. Delacroix used
the painting as a political poster for the revolution. Delacroix was a member
of the National Gaurd, and he placed himself into the picture as the man on the
left wearing a top-hat.
La Grande Odalisque
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| La Grande Odalisque |
Grande Odalisque, also known as Une Odalisque or La Grande
Odalisque, is an oil painting of 1814 by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
depicting an odalisque, or concubine. Grande Odalisque attracted wide criticism
when it was first shown. It has been especially noted for the elongated
proportions and lack of anatomical realism.
Portrait of an Old Man and a Young Boy
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| Old man and his grandson |
Sleeping Hermaphroditos
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| Sleeping Hermaphroditus |
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos was the
son of Aphrodite (Goddess of love and beauty) and Hermes (god of transitions and boundaries). The Sleeping
Hermaphroditus is an ancient marble sculpture depicting Hermaphroditus life
size, reclining on a mattress sculpted by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo
Bernini in 1620. The mattress was looked so real I almost wanted to feel it.
Nike of Samothrace
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| Nike of Samothrace |
Nike has been celebrated as the Goddess of triumph and
contest throughout ancient Greek mythology. The winged goddess Nike (victory)
was the daughter of the Titans, Pallas and Styx; her siblings included Zelos
(rivalry), Kratos (strength), and Bia (force). After helping Zeus banish the
Titans from Mt. Olympus, the supreme god honored Nike, and she then earned her
title as the goddess of victory.
Raft of the Medusa
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| Raft of Medusa |
The Raft of the Medusa painted by the French Romantic painter and lithographer
Théodore Géricault in 1818-19 when he was just 27 years old. The painting
depicts a scene from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval ship, which
ran drifted and met an unavoidable adversity. The French captain in charge was
criticised for his incompetence when this raft was hurriedly constructed and at
least and on boarded 147 people; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their
rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced
cannibalism.
References : Louvre site and Wiki, Pictures: (Shweta Dave)
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