It looms in front of us, with the ultra modern "glass pyramid" making a sharp contrast against the classical lines of the palace. I immediately love the Louvre and hate the pyramid. This "thing", through which we pass to enter the palace, was commissioned by Francois Mitterrand, former president of France, in 1989. It was designed by I.M. Pei and was controversial from Day One. It houses the ticket machines, information desks, and various shops and restaurants. Because it is totally glass, the sun shines in with an intensity that causes the inside temperatures to be very warm. But I digress....
The Louvre stretches almost a half a mile and displays some 30,000 works. We learned that it once was a fortress for Charles V, but was torn down & rebuilt as a royal residence. At one low point in time in the 18th century, it was a home for anyone who wanted to set up housekeeping. Laundry hung in the windows, corners were pigpens, and, in the winter, fires were built within for warmth. Along came Napoleon, who chased out all the squatters and set about restoring the palace. He added many works of art that he received from reluctant donors - picture a sword held against their hearts! Kings Francois I and Louis XIV (you gotta love this guy) are responsible for acquiring many of the works. Others were willed or purchased by the state.
Like most tourists, we want to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo first and foremost. It's not as easy as it sounds - you walk forever to get those exhibits and therefore you get to see a lot of other amazing works of art along the way.
We walk into a side room and, suddenly, there it is - Leonardo de Vinci's Mona Lisa.
It literally takes my breath away to finally see the real thing. The painting hangs alone on a huge wall at the end of the room. It is surrounded by eager tourists, their cameras flashing and their cell phones raised high in the air trying to capture an image over the heads of others. The painting is actually fairly small (maybe 20" x 30". There is a rope around the area directly in front of the painting with an armed guard standing nearby. The room is bright, but we imagine there must be some sort of protection against too much light. I want everyone to go away so I can have my moment with her. I squeeze my way to the front of the crowd and do the same thing everyone else is doing - take photographs. When I pause, I look at Mona Lisa and she seems to be saying to me, "I know something that you may never know".
Quite a few rooms and many steps later, we come upon the "Venus de Milo" or "Aphrodite", as she is more commonly known - the Roman goddess of love and beauty, born out of the foam of the sea. This is actually a Greek work of art, discovered in 1820 and thought to be from 323-31 BC. You can imagine how magnificent she was at one time, with arms, jewelry and color. The sculptor is unknown but is thought to have been "attempting to create divine beauty - an ideal. An answer to the eternal quest for Beauty".
Tonight we dine in a French/Italian cafe. We drink red wine and eat a seafood linguine with a wonderful red sauce. The restaurant was crowded, service slow, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We stroll back through the city to our hotel. Another wonderful day.
2 comments:
I'll forever remember you telling me how forlorn the room where Mona Lisa is. And, agreed, the pyramid is ugly. Sounds very cool and quite cultural and a lot of fun!
Your description of the Mona Lisa was too cool! It was have been totally awesome. I know a greenhouse when I see one.. That is a dumb place for it, in front of that beautiful building! Hahaha!!!! :-))
Post a Comment