Tag: travel photography

Farewell Louvre

There is never enough time to fully explore the Louvre. Over 2.8 million visitors venture through it’s cavernous halls in a year. With over 380,000 objects, something is bound to be missed on your first visit.

A mere 20′ away from the Mona Lisa is this painting of “Flora”.

Paris Bordone was an Italian painter. His paintings of religious themes were created for some of the great churches of the 1500s.

Biagio d’Antonio’s painting of “The Carrying of The Cross” depicts Jesus on his way to Cavalry. In the lower right corner is a woman holding a piece of fabric with Jesus’s face on it. This is known as Veronica’s Veil. Although not mentioned in the Bible, the legend of a woman that wiped the blood and sweat off of Jesus’ face has been retold across the world. This is but one of many representations of the meeting.

In the Egyptian collection, a bronze statue of a cat is on display. This is the Goddess Bastet in her form as a feline. The Goddess certainly has her plate full. She was the Goddess of cats, the sun, the East, fire, love, intoxication, music, dancing, joy, celebration, fertility, secrets, magic, and sex, to name a few of her duties.

For more information check out these links…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_Veronica

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Bordone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biagio_d%27Antonio

https://www.louvre.fr/en

by janoseagle

Galerie d’Apollon

Louis XIV was long associated with Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun. This chamber of The Sun King is richly appointed with gold embellishments.

Charles le Brun was the painter to the king and charged with designing the decorations. The ceiling is adorned with a painting of Apollo riding his chariot across the sky.

In addition to the references to Apollo, there are also 28 portrait tapestries of kings and artists who built and embellished the Louvre palace over the centuries.

by janoseagle

The King’s Bedroom

In traditional French Palace design, the King’s bedchamber was the main feature of the king’s apartments.

During the Ancien Regime, the late Middle Ages until the French Revolution. Placed significant emphasis to the King’s bed. Instead of sitting on a throne, the king would lounge in his ornate bed.

by janoseagle

The Ceilings of the Louvre

The Louvre was originally built over 800 years ago as a fortress to protect the citizenry of Paris. That fortress was torn down and replaced with a magnificent palace for the royal family.

The ornate painted ceilings are exceedingly beautiful.

Chambre du Roi (The King’s Room)

Galerie d’Apollon

by janoseagle

Sprinting Through The Louvre

A trip to Paris should include a trip to the World Famous Louvre Museum. Planning ahead is crucial to your enjoyment. When we visited in April, we purchased our tickets ahead of time. This gave us a set time that we could enter the Museum.

Tip#1: Don’t queue up to enter the Glass Pyramid. Instead, look for Carrousel de Louvre. If you are facing the Gardens, go through the building on your right. This will take out to the street where you can find the entrance to the Louvre. This is an underground shopping mall and takes you right under the Glass Pyramid. There was no line, but we had to wait for our designated time.

Tip#2: Do your homework and know what you want to see. The Louvre is Massive! Our highlights included Mona Lisa, Venus deMilo and Winged Victory.

The Line for Mona can be very long.

And when you actually get close enough, she can be underwhelming. The official name of this work of art is “La Gioconda”

Just a month after our visit, a protestor smeared a piece of cake on the glass protecting the Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, she has had her share of mayhem

by janoseagle