J'aime Paris et Le Louvre!

The entrance to the art museum is on the other side of the glass pyramid.  One of the smartest things we did was buy some museum passes in advance, through Parisinfo.com.  The tickets were delivered to our hotel and waiting for us when we arrived.  This helped us to bypass what was probably over an hour-long line and go straight into the museum!  Yay for us!

So right away we checked our coats and then went to the patisserie for some pain au chocolat and cafe!  once we were sufficiently fortified, we headed up to see the Mona Lisa.  The painting is a lot smaller than I expected, and it is behind glass and roped off so it isn't a highlight so much as a novelty!

 It's a little crazy, and you can't really see it up close so it's a little sad.  But see that head that rises above all the other heads down there?  That guy had to have been about 6'7" or more - he towered over Steve as he walked by!  Anyway, that's the crowd packing in to see the Mona Lisa.

 The museum itself is just gorgeous. Many of the rooms are quite ornate and there are paintings EVERYWHERE! 

Even on the ceilings!

Frankly, Steve was pretty enamored with the works on the ceilings...

I kept saying "Louis the Fourteenth, Blues" - you know - when Bugs Bunny is in a dress trying to select a song from the jukebox?!  (Actually, he probably called it Louis the Sixteenth Blues...)

There were many artists and paintings that were unfamiliar to me (obviously, I am not an art historian or anything) but that's part of what made it so neat because so much of it was "new" to me, and there was SO MUCH TO SEE!!!  We dedicated one day to the Louvre, but one day isn't enough time to see everything.  I could spend several days  there.  We did not get to see the whole museum, but we did enjoy our time there and all that we did actually see. 

It also made me want to study up on French history again.  I did not take pictures, but there is an entire room of 24 paintings that were commissioned by Marie Medici who was the second wife of King Henry IV of France, and the mother of King Louis XIII.  Peter Paul Rubens received the commission in 1621, which was to be a series of Marie's struggles and triumphs in life.  Of the  24 paintings, three of them are portraits of herself and her parents.  She is  the star of all of the paintings, and they are HUGE. Anyway, it was rather fascinating - no self-esteem  issues for her!

We did take pictures of some of our favorite paintings...

I wanted a picture of this painting.  I was drawn to it and then read about it.  It is by Bartolome Esteban Murillo done in 1658.  It is a portrait of Inigo Melchor Fernandez de Velasco.  I told Steve, "This is Inigo Montoya.  You killed his father.  Prepare to die."  Of course, I gave it my best accent trying to imitate Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride, and then we laughed and laughed.  Still, I do really like the painting.

(Just a  mention about the scarf - it wasn't a fashion statement!  They won't let you check scarves and gloves and such - NO SCARVES.  ONLY COATS.  I didn't see the sign and it made the guy at the coat check a bit cranky....) 

Above is Goya's painting  of Luis Maria de Cistue known as "The Boy in Blue".  Steve was pleased to find this one.  Steve was also intrigued by the vegetable, fruit, flower and tree faces...

Spring

These paintings were done by Italian painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldi (1527-1593). They represent the four seasons and were painted between 1563-1573.

Autumn

Winter

Summer

I will tell you that when I first started looking at these on Steve's camera, they were sideways and I couldn't figure out what they were!

The painting below is by John Martin, done between 1823 and 1827.  It is titled Le Pandemonium and it is a scene/illustration of a part of John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost.

Of course here we both said "But I AM Napoleon!"  This is a painting by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) called Bonaparte Crossing the Alps.  The painting was done in 1850.

This was a Monet I had not seen before titled Snow Near Honfleur painted in 1867.

Hanging rabbits were a popular motif for a (very) still life...

This one is by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755).  The painting:  Still Life with Hare, Duck, Loaf of Bread, Cheese and Flasks of Wine was completed in 1742.

The following 3 portraits were done by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788)  I liked his portraits because the people seemed so real - and so pleasant and likable!

This first one is of the sculptor, Rene Fremin (1672-1744).

The second one is of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764).

This last one is of Jean Le Rond d'Almbert (1717-1783).

And finally, my favorite painting of all, a portrait of Madame Mole-Reymond, an actress of Italian comedy!  This was painted by Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun (1755-1842).  The painting was done in 1786.  Marie Antoinette favored her (the painter) as well!  I just love how she captures the beauty and grace of the actress and she seems so happy and light-hearted!

These are some shots of the scuplture area.  We did not go through the rooms.  We were quite worn out by that time.  We had gone through rooms of ancient Egyptian pottery and it was incredible seeing things that were so, so old.  But we did start to tire, which is understandable after several hours of walking around and viewing artwork, no matter how fabulous it is. 

Below is The Winged Victory of Samothrace.  It is a 2nd Century BC marble sculpture of the Greek Goddess, Nike.  She is the goddess who personifies victory.  This monument was found in April 1863 by a French archeological expedition.  She is standing on a ship's prow.  It was pretty fascinating.

The next two shots are views outside the museum, taken from inside on the second floor.

After a  lovely day and a nice late afternoon lunch, we finally had to leave the museum.  Au Revoir Le Louvre!

We loved Paris, and would happily return again!

J'aime Paris at Le Musee Rodin

Standing before the Gates of Hell!

The man of the hour!  Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

Truly a remarkable sculptor and a remarkable museum and well worth the visit.  It was lovely.  We were not able to go into the Hotel Biron as it was under renovation, but they had the works on display in a temporary exhibit so we still got to see everything.  I would LOVE to go back and be able to view the pieces and the prototypes and sketches in the hotel as Rodin intended.  The hotel itself is a gorgeous setting and it is clear to me that Rodin, like Monet, recognized that their works could be presented in a way that one can enjoy the peace of the surroundings along with the works of art and that it would only add to the experience of the viewer.

We were able to stroll the gardens and view the sculptures and that was lovely - even in February!  Again though, I would love to go back in Spring or Summer to stroll around Paris and this garden in particular.  it would be tres jolie!

Below is the hotel that we could only walk around.  I have seen pictures of it lit up online, and it would be a fabulous place to see in person.

The Burghers of Calais.  (1889)

In 1884 the City of Calais commissioned a monument commemorating an incident of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453).  Six dignitaries sacrificed themselves for their fellow citizens by surrendering to the King of England in 1347, in return for the King to have mercy on the rest of the townspeople.  At the time, they believed they would be executed, but their lives were spared by the intervention of the Queen, Philippa of Hainault, who persuaded King Edward III that their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child. They wore the tunics of condemned prisoners and nooses around their necks and carried the keys to the city and castle.  They are "the image of misery and sacrifice." Rodin did a marvelous job.  There was some controversy over it (as with almost all of his artistic vision) because people thought the men did not appear heroic as there were no allegorical figures, they were not on a pedestal, and they were not arranged in pyramid or other heroic pattern.  But Rodin felt that by displaying pain, anguish, and fatalism, and keeping them at ground level, that they showed clearly the heroism of self-sacrifice. 

The younger looking statue in the back, with the long hair and no beard, is on display in front of the University of Iowa College of Law Boyd Law Building.  When it was first installed, there was a caption contest.  Because he had both his arms out like he was asking a question, we joked that his caption should be like "what page are we on?" or "were we supposed to read that case?"  Now, seeing them all together and the anguish presented more clearly in the combination of figures, it really isn't so funny...  A testament to Rodin, actually, and his ability to extract such raw human emotion in his sculptures. I actually wanted to hug them, tell them everything would be okay.  It really is rather awesome when you focus on the story and the heroics of ordinary people.

Okay, I probably shouldn't be so joyously taking the Key to the City away from him...Especially when he looks so sad...

The hotel from the back.  You can see it is under extensive renovation.  This also gives you some perspective of the size of the gardens, from this point you are only seeing about one quarter of the gardens!

Below is his monument to Victor Hugo, done about 1900.  He originally did this piece for the Pantheon, but it was rejected so he did a different, standing sculpture of the poet for the Pantheon instead.

Below are Les Hombres/The Three Shades (1902-1904).  They stand  before the entrance to Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, pointing to an inscription "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."  This stands in the garden a short distance in front of the Gates of Hell.  There is a smaller version of them on top of the Gates as well.

I can't find what this one is called, but it is one of my favorites...

Eve:

 Adam:

The one below is called Meditation.

Below is a large version of Ugolino - a smaller depiction is on the Gates. 

Below is a monument to the painter Claude Lorrain (1892).  Steve is imitating his expression!

And of course, The Thinker (1903)  Created in 1880 for The Gates of Hell, the figure represents Dante and also Hades or the creator leaning over his work.

The date after the  title is the date this particular bronze was cast.   Apparently under French law, only 12 casts of each size can be made of Rodin's original molds/models, and the date of the cast must appear with the sculpture.  Quality control to be sure!

I loved this museum.  The works are wonderful and the process that goes into the creation of the sculptures is amazing.  In fact, Rodin worked so hard to understand the human form and it's motion and created such life-like sculptures that when he showed The Age of Bronze, a life-size nude, he was accused of making the cast directly from a live model!  He also refused to create statues with just formal or heroic poses, preferring instead to present the human form in relaxed, natural poses.  It was truly a l earning experience and honestly, you come away feeling such a strong connection with humanity and with the beauty of the human form.  Well worth the visit.