A Glimpse of the Louvre Museum

Venus de Milo in Sully Wing

Cupid bending over Psyche to revive her ---  by Antonio Canova (1787)

Athena, Goddess of wisdom and Valour by Pyrrhos (500 B.C.)

 This is the most profound as well as the most complex topic for me to dwell upon as our limited stay for a couple of hours to view one of the largest museums in the world makes me feel not at all worthy to attempt such a theme of vast magnitude. Out of the collection of 3,80,000 objects, nearly 35,000 works of art and artifacts have been selected for display in eight departments.  As soon as our vehicle halted in the lower basement, our tour manager frisked us away quickly to ticket counter and managed to give the coupons within no time so that we can quickly rush in and have a quick look at the artifacts and exhibits of this most vast museum without wasting a fraction of a second.

 We entered the dept. of the Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities of the Denon  and Sully Wings. The whole gallery was flanked on both sides by marble sculptures of Greek and Roman gods with gleaming white figures of graceful physique exposing their naked bodies or covered partly with simple clothes without much decoration. The Greeks humanized their gods as if to make them  proper prototypes of physical perfection. We saw the statue of Venus de Milo (Room;16, Ground Floor, Sully Wing), belonging to 100 B.C. standing on the pedestal and showing the beauty of her well-proportioned tall physique. Only a crown of leaves adorned her curls. We saw the statue of winged Cupid (designed by Canova) bending over his mistress Psyche as if to kiss her and rejuvenate her. The statue of wrestlers interlocked together shows their graceful postures caught by the sculptor. The bearded statue of Dyonisius holding a bunch of grapes shows his hedonistic zeal for wine and sensual pleasures. The stalwart statue of Athena with helmet and buckled armour and holding a spear in her hand revealed the right posture and the strong muscular limbs of the goddess. Diana, the Moon Goddess of hunting, with a bow and quiver and touching a fawn with her palm, shows the skills of the sculptor in shaping the curves of her body. The heroic body of Hercules caught in the coils of a mighty Hydra shows the valiant figure trying to kill the reptile.Another famous statue (in Room:22, first floor, Denon Wing) is the marble statue of the winged victory-- Goddess Nike of 2nd century B.C.-- of Samothrace standing on the prow of a ship.Though the head is missing the statue revealed the perfect workmanship of the sculptor. There are nearly 275 works of art dating from 400 B.C. to 600 A.D. comprising the statues of gods, goddesses, heroes, emperors, mythological events and common figures. The rich culture of ancient Greece and Rome appeared before our eyes in artistic and solid shape. In ten rooms that form two galleries all these sculptures and statues were arranged in the ground floor of the Denon Wing.

Diana, Moon Goddess by Christabel Gabriel Allegrain, an 18th century French sculptor

         

Hercules fighting with a monstrous serpent, Hydra ( a Bronze sculpture)  by Francois Joseph Bosio in 1824

 

Wrestlers, a copy of the Greek Original 300 B.C. by Philippe Magnier carved between  (1684--1687)

Winged Victory, Goddess Nike, of Samothrace (200 B.C.) in I floor, Denon Wing

Later we saw the Spanish  the Italian paintings on the first floor of the Denon Wing. Next we went to see the most admired world-famous portrait of Mona Lisa, the star attraction of the museum, in Room NO.6, I floor, Denon Wing. A large group of tourists stood there clicking photos of that portrait. This painting  of moderate size (21x30 inches) does not appear so impressive at first sight. Leonardo Da Vinci used a very simple background and somber colors without much showing off or decorative splendor. The beauty of this portrait lies in that sheer simplicity and tranquil expression of  that visage with calm and innocent looks and in the curve of lips with a faint smile with a touch of tenderness. It is much like the saintly smile of Madonna but not like the flashy and voluptuous charms of Helen or Nefertiti. The arch of eye brows seems to be a little worn out, almost invisible and her hairline is parted in the middle without lustrous waves of curls lingering on the brow. Mona Lisa in common Italian means "My Lady Lisa" which is the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giacondo. Leonardo da Vinci painted this portrait of this noble lady between 1503 and 1506. But some people say that he continued painting that portrait adding new features. The French king Francis I acquired this portrait by paying 2604 livers 4 sols and 4 deniers to Salai, a student of  Leonardo da Vinci.              


   

Mona Lisa Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci , I Floor, Denon Wing

         

Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese in 1563

St. George slaying a dragon by Raphael in 1504

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 In the same gallery we saw another large painting showing Jesus Christ at the wedding feast in Cana where he performed the miracle of turning water into wine. This painting done by Paolo Veronese shows the crowded scene of wedding hall filled with lavish arrangement of tables laden with many dishes, goblets and vessels. In the middle Christ is seen seated surrounded by his disciples and followers. The painter caught the splendor of the wedding feast by using bright colors and ornamentation. The crowded atmosphere and the gracious looks of Jesus Christ were finely pictured on the broad canvass.

Great Sphinx of Tanis Body of a lion with the head of a King) in Sully Wing Belonging to times earlier  than 2000 B.C.

Sarcophagus (stone coffin with carvings and inscriptions) of Ramses III, Ground Floor, Sully Wing

Seated Egyptian  Scribe, Thoth, scribe to Gods (sculpted between 2620 B.C. and 2500 B.C.

Wooden Coffins from Lebanon

Dining Room, Royal Apts. of Napoleon III, Richlieu Wing, I Floor

 Later we entered the rooms of Sully Wing where Egyptian sculptures and artifacts are displayed. It is huge collection of nearly 50,000 works of art housed in more than 20 rooms. At the entrance we saw the statue of the sphinx of Tanis which is the guardian spirit of this Egyptian art collection. The head of a pharaoh with typical headgear is seen near the entrance. We saw many sarcophagi from Lebanon (wooden coffins in human shape) with painted faces and dresses. The sarcophagus of Ramses III (the famous Egyptian king who ruled Egypt from  (1187 B.C. to 1156 B.C.) is a huge stone coffin with engraved figures and designs. We also saw the statues of Egyptian gods and ladies with long eyelashes and head gears. "The Seated Scribe ", Thoth (scribe to gods) is a statue of a person squatting on the pedestal with a quill and a book in his hands. The upper part of his body is quite bare without any dress or ornaments. This statue made of limestone looks very realistic and life-like. We also saw a mummy swathed in covering from head to foot lying on the table. In Egyptian section the statues are mostly made of granite, wood and metal. The Dutch paintings are on the second floor in Richelieu Wing. The French paintings are located on the second floor in Sully Wing. We could not go further as the time allotted for us was nearly over.

A shop at Carrousel du Louvre 

Glass Pyramid Entrance to Louvre Museum

  We got down and came out. Near the exit there is a beautiful 21-meter high glass pyramid in the center of the entrance hall (Cour Napoleon) shining in the evening lights. This was designed by the eminent Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pai in 1989. This pyramid acts as focal point from where different corridors lead to different sections and wings. We went down to lower floor and drank hot coffee and felt refreshed. At the stall in the underground shopping center "Carrousel du Louvre", we saw many books and novels giving a lot of information about the museum and about Mona Lisa. We bought a few picture cards and came out to catch our bus where our tour manager was waiting eagerly to take us back to our lodgings. Our schedule packed with too many sightseeing places made us very much tired and exhausted. But we were happy that we had been able  at least to have a glimpse of this largest museum which one can not see in a few hours. For art lovers it may require months to see and appreciate the rare and wonderful creations of great artists and sculptors. No wonder that this most spacious and richest museum of world arts, culture and civilization attracts more than ten million tourists every year.
                                   
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   11th May, 2016                                                            Somaseshu Gutala

A Brief Introduction to Louvre Museum, Paris (Part--II)

Musee de Antiquities on the ground floor-- Petit Galerie

Seven  Niche Column Type  Sarcophagus (Sculpture on  stone coffin),  Musee de Antiques

Department of Egyptian Antiquities Opened by Jean Francois Champollion

  

Egyptian gods and goddesses of war, Egyptian Antiquities

  In 1800 Napoleon opened Musee de Antiques in the Anne of Austria's apartments. On the ground floor of the petit galerie, a new monumental staircase was set up for the Salon Carre and for the grand galerie separately. In 1824 Musee de Sculpture Moderne was set up on the ground floor of the  Cour Carree (square court). In 1826 Jean Francois Champollion, the first curator of the museum, opened the new department of the Egyptian antiquities having nearly 50,000 collections. In 1849 Europe's first museum of Assyrian art was inaugurated in two galleries in the north wing of the Cour Carree. The Mexican, Algerian and ethnographic museums were opened on the ground floor and on the second floor of the pavilion de Beauvais in the north wing of the Cour Carree. During the time of the prince-President Louis Napoleon, three new galleries were opened between 1848 and 1851. During 1852 and 1857 the north wing linking the Louvre and Tuilleries as well as the Cour Napoleon were completed. The Musee de Souverains - the museum exhibiting various collections of royal dynasties- was opened by Louis Napoleon.  

     

Assyrian Galerie in the north wing of Cour Carree

                 

Assyrian Galerie

Immortal Archers, Susa Galerie, Iranian Collections by Marcel Dieulaoy

           

Sculpture of the animal Griffin in Susa Galerie

                     

Persian lion of Darius of Susa Palace 

Persian Sculpture

Mithra, Persian Sun God, sacrificing a bull

   
  In 1871 the Tuilleries Palace was burnt down when the revolutionary army attacked. With the demolition of the Tuilleries Palace in 1882, the Louvre Palace became the sole museum of culture and arts. In this museum all rare and valuable artistic and cultural artefacts from all parts of the world are displayed. So many people dedicated their lives to enrich and expand this gigantic museum of museums which has many departments and sections. Marcel Dieulaoy, the French archaelogist, inaugurated the Susa galleries with his rare Iranian collections of art. In 1922 the Islamic arts gallery was opened. In 2012 the new Islamic gallery was opened in the lower ground floor. Between 1932 and 1938 Henri Verne, Director of National Museums, refurbished the galleries of the Egyptian and Near East antiquities. During the second World War (1939-1945) most of the articles were moved to safer Chateaus (castles) and the museum was closed. In 1943 the Musee de la Marine was transferred from the North Wing of Cour Carree(I and II floors) to a wing of the new Palais de Challiot. In 1945 the Asian Collections were moved to the Musee Guimet. 

Statue of Louis XIV,  Musee de Souverains

           

Alexander, the Great, Musee de Souverains

Musie Guimet, Asian Collections Galerie

A Row of Dancers, Musee Guimet

Statues of Buddhas, Musee Guimet

In 1981 President Francois Mitteraand launched the Grand Louvre Project by doubling the museum's exhibition's space to make this palace function as a full-fledged museum. The extension and modernization of the Louvre was entrusted to the eminent Chinese-American architect, Ieoh Ming Pei in 1983. The 21 feet high glass pyramid designed by I.M.Pei was inaugurated on March 30, 1989 adding another marvel to this museum. Rising from the center of the Cour Napoleon this pyramid serves as the focal point of the museum's main axes of circulation  leading to various departments. It also serves a grand entrance to the Lounge in the reception hall scattering light through its multi-faceted surfaces as if it symbolizes the universal significance of this museum encompassing all cultures of the world. In 1999 the French President Jacques Chirac announced the creation of a national Museum of Tribal and Aboriginal art on the ground floor of the Pavilion des Sessions. 

Eastern Antiquity Collections

 In this spacious musuem spreading over a vast area of 60,600 sq.meters there are three main wings. The Richlieu Wing on the north side has galleries displaying Near East antiquities and decorative arts. It has also precious collections of French, German and North European art. Famous paintings, drawings and prints right from Middle Ages to nineteenth century belonging to Europe are displayed. The works of great painters like Reubens, Rembrandt, Jan Van Eyck etc. are seen. On the first floor one can see ornamental clocks, furniture, tapestries and porcelain works of art. On the same floor the apartments of Napoleon III are located.

Denon Wing with Greek and Roman antiquities

Richlieu Wing with the sculptures, porcelain figurines and furniture of Middle Ages

Sully Wing with Egypt and Greek works of art along with French Paintings

 The Denon Wing on the south side has Greek and Roman antiquities along with Italian, French and Spanish paintings dating from 17th to 19th centuries. On the first floor one can see various items of furniture, clocks, porcelain ware and tapestries belonging to 17th and 18th centuries. The famous painting of Mona Lisa is on the first floor of Denon Wing in Room No. 6. The paintings done by great Italian painters like Raphael and Michael Angelo, Titian and Botticelli  are found in first, third, fifth and eight rooms. The famous sculpture of Winged Victory of Samothrace is seen on the first floor, Denon Wing.The Sully Wing on the east side displays collections of ancient Egypt and Greek art along with French paintings. The Sully Wing is the oldest part of the museum having thirty rooms on the ground and first floors. In the lower ground floor of this wing one can still see the remnants of the medieval castle of Louvre (Salle Base), a vaulted ceiling on two columns at the center of the hall. In the ground floor and underground rooms one can see French sculptures and Near East works of art.On the first floor there are royal apartments of Napoleon III with richly decorated chambers and paintings. On the second floor French paintings are displayed.

 This Museum has two satellite museums . The Louvre-Lens is an art museum located in the mining town, Lens, 200 kms north of Paris. With the collaboration of the Japanese Architectural Agency SANAA , the project was started in 2005 to display nearly six hundred works of art. It was opened for public in December, 2012. The  Louvre Abu Dhabhi Museum was started in 2007 in Abu Dhabhi, U.A.E. on the Saadiyat island with the collaboration of the local government and it was completed in December, 2015. 

 Thus the Louvre Museum has established a very fabulous and wonderful institution of global culture accessible to all by having branches in other places and linking the European masterpieces with those of other countries in the world. No wonder then that more than eight million visitors come to this marvellous musuem every year from all parts of the globe.
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   8th May, 2016                                                      Somaseshu Gutala

A Brief Introduction to Louvre Museum, Paris (Part--I)

Louvre Museum, Paris

Louvre Museum (Night View)

 Before writing about my short visit to the Louvre Museum, it seems proper to give a brief introduction about this world-famous magnificent museum which would help you in understanding the gradual evolution of this museum from a primitive medieval fortress to a spacious palace and then into a museum with a vast collection of more than one million rare works of art collected from various parts of the world, a very gigantic enterprise in which many kings, nobles, donors, architects, sculptors, archaeologists and other artists of  various countries contributed their best. At this place in 1190 the French king Philip Auguste (1180--1223) built a rampart to defend the small town of Paris from Anglo-Norman forces. The fortress was a quadrilateral building with round bastions at each corner. Even now the tower hall (Salle Basse), a vaulted ceiling on two columns at the center of the hall with supporting walls is seen in the lower ground floor of the Sully Wing. Charles V (1338--1380) extended the fortress by constructing an earthen rampart to cover the neighboring areas on the right bank of the Seine river. Raymon Du Temple, the architect under Charles V transformed this old fortress into a royal residence with a central court, pleasure gardens, sculptures and images on roof tops.

    

Model of Medieval Louvre Fortress in Sully Wing Ground Floor

Salle Basse (Lower Room)

Petite Galerie (small gallery)

Sculptures near the petit galerie

Grand Galerie

Grand Galerie with paintings on walls

 After the death of Charles VI there were no improvements till 1527. Later Francois I demolished the medieval  keep (Gross Tour) ie. a large tower, to provide more space and light. The medieval west wing was demolished and replaced by the Renaissance style of new the buildings in 1546. Henri II (1519--1559) demolished the castle's medieval south wing and built a new wing. He created the Hall of Caryatids (sculptured female figures used as pillars) on the ground floor and built the king's pavilion (Pavilion du Roy) at the junction of the new building and the king's private apartments on the first floor.Their decoration work was completed under Henri IV. In 1564 Henri's widow Catherine De Medicis ordered the building of a new palace just at a short distance to the west. In 1566 Charles X (1757--1836) built the ground floor of the petite gallerie  as a starting point for a long corridor connecting the Louvre to the Tuilleries -- a link between two palaces. Henri IV (1553--1610) built King's Gallery (Galerie du Roi) on the top of the Petit Galerie. He also built the waterside gallery as a link between the royal apartments in the Louvre to the Tuilleries Palace ending with the pavilion de Flore between 1595 and 1610. The main work of the Grand Gallery was completed by Henri IV. But due to Henri IV's assassination on May 14th 1610, the interior decoration work was not completed. His successor Louis XIII (1601--1643) was only a boy of nine years. Work begun by him was completed after fifteen years by Louis XIV. The extension of the west wing of the Cour Carree (Courtyard in the shape of a quadrangle)  under Louis XIII was completed by Louis XIV (1638--1715). With this the construction of the Louvre Palace was over. 

Cour Carree

Lescot Wing

Clock Pavilion or Pavilion Sully

Clock Sculpture at the entrance

Museum of Arts with 35,000 artifacts in eight sections

 But the kings lost interest in the palace as they moved to Tuilleries Palace. In 1624 Louis XIII carried out the grand design planned by Henri IV . He demolished a part of the northern wing of the medieval Louvre palace and replaced it with the continuation of the Lescot Wing. Between the old building and the new building a monumental clock pavilion (Pavilion Sully, a model for the palace's other buildings) was constructed by the architect, Jacques le Mercier in 1639. Between 1655 and 1658 Regent Queen Anne of Austria (Mother of Louis XIV) commissioned six interconnecting rooms on the ground floor of the Petit Galerie. Between 1660 and 1664 the north wing of the Cour Carree was completed and the south wing was extended by the addition of two new pavilions at the eastern end and one in the center. In 1668 the width of the palace was doubled and a new facade was built overlooking the Seine. The last vestiges of the medieval Louvre were demolished.The ravaged parts of the upper story of the Petit Galerie were destroyed in fire in 1661. But they were re-constructed by Louis XIV . As Louis XIV stayed at Versailles Palace, the buildings of the Cour Carree were left unroofed and remained so nearly for one century. 

Salles des Caryatides (sculptured female figures as columns)

Statues in Salles des Carytides

In 1692 Louis XIV created a gallery of ancient sculptures in the Salle des Caryatides . Many academeys like Academie Francois, Academie Rouyal de Peinture et de sculpture, Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Letters funtioned here till 1792. In 1699 the Academie de Peinture et de Sculpture held their first exhibition here. In 1756 the wings begun in Louis XIV's time were partially completed. The north, east and south sides of the Cour Carree (court yard in the shape of a quadrangle) were over. Later a complex of ancillary buildings in Cour Carree was dismantled.

Anne of Austria's Apartments in lower petite galerie

Entrance to Anne of Austria's Summer Apartments

In 1791 the revolutionary Assemblee Nationale declared that the Louvre and Tuilleries Palaces as a national property to house the royal and the historic collections of the arts and sciences and made it a national museum. In 1793 the Museum of Arts (Central de Arts) was opened in the Salon Carree  ( a hall in the shape of a quadrangle) and the Grand Galerie with 537 paintings on display. Later the Museum of Arts spread over to the Anne of Austria's apartments. Further more rooms were opened during the time of Charles X. This museum was re-named as Musee' Napoleon in 1803 after Napoleon brought paintings from Venice and Vatican in 1798. After the fall of the empire in 1815 this museum was disbanded and each nation reclaimed its treasures and artifacts.

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2nd May, 2016                                                   Somaseshu Gutala