DAY 185 - Love the Louvre

Sept 20 - You Need a Week to See This Museum

We woke up early so that we could have a full day at the most famous museum in Paris - The Louvre.

The architecture of The Louvre encompasses it all!

The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the right bank of the Seine River in the 1st arrondissement (district). Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). With more than 9.7 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum.





Rich's sister and brother-in-law had gone to Germany and France last year and absolutely loved their visit to the Louvre, so we were excited to spend most of the day here, but it's HUGE -where to start? To really understand what it is, you have to know a little bit of the history of this amazing edifice.

During the 43-yr. reign of Philippe Auguste (1180–1223), the power and influence of the French monarchy grew considerably, both inside and outside the kingdom. In 1190, a rampart was built around Paris, which was Europe’s biggest city at the time.

Philippe Auguste's fortress of 1190

To protect the capital from the Anglo-Norman threat, the king decided to reinforce its defenses with a fortress, which came to be known as The Louvre. It was built to the west of the city, on the banks of the Seine.

  The Salle Basse (Lower Hall) is all that remains today of the Louvre’s medieval interior. Its original function is unknown.  The vaulting, columns, and corbels that can be seen today date from 1230–40 and were added to the old masonry.

The only portion of the medieval crypt still visible.

Under Charles V in 1358, the Louvre was enclosed within the expanding city and lost its defensive function.  His architect began transforming the old fortress into a splendid royal residence. Contemporary miniatures and paintings contain marvelous images of ornately decorated rooftops. Apartments around the central court featured large, elaborately-carved windows.

The Medieval Keep was demolished.

After the death of Charles VI, the Louvre slumbered for a century til 1527, when François I decided to take up residence in Paris. The Grosse Tour (the medieval keep) was demolished, affording still more light and space. The medieval Louvre gave way to a Renaissance palace.



In the second half of the 16th century, the Louvre was an astonishing mixture of new buildings, work in progress, and half-ruined structures over 200 years old.  The history during the Renaissance period is fascinating.

In 1791, the revolutionary Assemblée Nationale decreed that the “Louvre and the Tuileries together will be a national palace to house the king and for gathering together all the monuments of the sciences and the arts."  The Museum opened with 537 paintings.

With the Revolution, the Louvre entered a phase of intensive transformation.  France acquired numerous paintings and antiquities from the Vatican and the Venetian republic. These were enriched by spoils from Napoleon I's conquests. The museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon in 1803. A bust of the emperor by Bartolini was installed over the entrance. After the fall of the empire in 1815, each nation reclaimed its treasures and the museum was disbanded.

By 1874, the Louvre Palace had achieved its present form of a rectangular structure with the Sully Wing to the east containing the square Cour Carrée and the oldest parts of the Louvre; and two wings which wrap the Cour Napoléon, the Richelieu Wing to the north and the Denon Wing, which borders the Seine to the south.

The Louvre Palace and Pyramid today - so beautiful at night.

Rich and I took photos of some of our favorite paintings.

Annibale Carraci -"The Birth of the Virgin"

This is the biggest reason everyone comes here - for this beautiful lady.

"Do I have the Mona Lisa smile?"

It's amazing how small the painting really is.  There was a large crowd around her, but she is only 31" x 20."

The painting by Leonardo da Vinci has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world."  The painting, thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506, although Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now on permanent display here and has been since 1797.


"Les Noches de Cana" depicts the Wedding Feast at Cana, a miracle story from the New Testament.  In the story, Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding celebration in Cana in Galilee.  Towards the end of the feast, when the wine was running out, Jesus commanded servants to fill jugs with water, which he then turned into wine (his first miracle of seven).

Wedding Feast at Cana - the largest painting at the Louvre.

There was another large crowd around this painting which was completed in 1563 by Paolo Veronese, an Italian painter.  There is quite a history about this original painting changing hands, getting damaged, and more.


 

 

"The Astronomer" by Johannes Vermeer

Rembrandt created nearly 100 self-portraits during his lifetime including approximately 50 paintings, 32 etchings and 7 drawings. The self-portraits create a visual diary of the artist over a span of forty years.

One of Rembrandt's MANY self-portraits.

"OUCH! - He bit my finger!"

 Renoir considered the next masterpiece, which entered the Louvre in 1870, the most beautiful painting in the world.  A young lacemaker, undoubtedly a member of the Delft bourgeoisie, is hunched intently over her work, deftly manipulating bobbins, pins and thread on her sewing table. The theme of the lacemaker, frequently depicted in Dutch literature and painting traditionally illustrated feminine domestic virtues. The small book in the foreground is probably the Bible, which reinforces the picture's moral and religious interpretation.  This is the smallest painting Vermeer produced.

"The Lacemaker" - Johannes Vermeer (1600's)....one of my favorites!

 

We've seen MANY amazing museums in Europe, but this has to be one of THE BEST!

Next Post:  We meet our couch surfing hosts - Mahery and Justine.  We stayed with them for three nights.  They were awesome and lived in an amazing part of Paris.  Don't miss our trip to Africa with them!