Well, I have been rather busy since getting back from Spring Break!! Midterms and museum visits have seemed to consume my last few days. I am not complaining though...life in Paris is grand! I also went to Normandy yesterday... I will be writing a long post after this fairly short one about that life-changing experience. For now...its all about Paris!
On Wednesday I went to the Louvre Museum with my Art Class. The Louvre, for those that do not know, is the most famous museum in Paris and also happens to be the museum that houses the Mona Lisa! It was pouring the day I was supposed to go and I traveled with four of my class mates and Adrian to meet up with our teacher. We looked EVERYWHERE for my teacher....we were even fifteen minutes early for class and right at the location we were told to meet. After about forty-five minutes of searching we made a group decision to enter the Louvre without the rest of our class and teacher and search inside instead. After an hour and a half of looking my travel/classmates decided they were going to just leave. Before they left we took a group picture together to show our teacher we were there to meet her and ready to learn. Adrian and I then went through the museum on our own for awhile after. Long story short, because of the rain and over crowding at the Louvre we had difficulty finding our teacher. I sent her a lengthy email that night along with the picture of our group and an apology for missing class (I am anal about missing class). Thankfully, she completely understood and said not to worry that she knows this is unlike me to do. She marked off the sections of the Louvre she taught for that class and said I could go back and look at them in order to not fall behind in class.
With that said, I had a very nice time at the Louvre with Adrian. We saw many famous paintings and sculptures that I loved. For those that do not know much about the famous Louvre museum check this out to get a little background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_du_Louvre
The Louvre is both beautiful inside and out. As many may know the Louvre is known for its pyramid structure on the outside that is also on the inside of the museum as well. Despite the rain I was able to get a few pictures of the Louvre!
indoor pyramid
Of course we also got to see the Mona Lisa!!! It was absolutely amazing to actually see in person. The crowd to see the Mona Lisa was massive. Adrian and I had to push through crazy tourists in order to get close enough to snap just a simple picture. The Mona Lisa is MUCH smaller then many would imagine and it is behind layer upon layer of bullet proof glass. I was surprised though the original is in such great condition. I have never been a real fan of the Mona Lisa anyway, but it looked really beautiful in person. I know I have said this before about various things, but it really is something special to see in person something I spent my whole life looking at in pictures or learning about in a classroom. It is a different experience to actually see things like the Mona Lisa up close and personal. It is also amazing to see how many people each and everyday come from all around the world to view this painting.
After seeing the Mona Lisa Adrian and I basically just wandered around viewing various paintings from various time periods. Here are just a few pictures I enjoyed that you may recognize.
Adrian and I were also determined to find and see the famous Venus de Milo statue. The statue is famous because of where it was found. The statue of the Goddess Venus (sometimes also known as Aphrodite) the Goddess of love and beauty was found in 1820 buried under an ancient city in ruin on the Greek Island of Milo. For my Art class I had to analyze the statue and write all about its origins. For those interested further in the statue you can read my description for my class here:
Shannon Luibrand
Art and Architecture of France
Professor Slavkova
Journal Entry # 5
For my fifth journal entry I decided to talk about the Venus de Milo located in the Louvre in Paris, France. It was sculpted by the artist Alexandro's of Antioch between the years 130 and 100 BC. It is made out of marble and is life size about 203 cm high. It is known as one of the greatest works in Ancient Greek sculpture. I chose this sculpture from the Louvre because I thought its history was fascinating. It was found on the Aegean Island of Milo which is Greece in 1820. It was found buried in the ruins of the ancient city located in Milo.
The statue is of the goddess Venus known as Aphrodite to the Greeks. She was the goddess of love and beauty which can be reflected in the sculpture. She is a single woman that is missing her arms. She is wearing a cloth over her torso and her breasts are exposed. The drapery along her waist sort of falls on her body. Overall the statue does not form a straight vertical line, but instead her body forms a spiral line. She is positioned strategically as a three dimensional figure. It is thought that originally when she had arms one arm was holding the drapery her bottom half is covered up with. It has been figured out her other hand was holding an apple. The statue was most likely painted at one time, but now is simply just the color of marble.
It is believed the sculpture reflects artistic qualities from the Hellenistic period. The statue is atheistically pleasing which is one of the reasons it is so famous. Venus does not seem to be ashamed of her nudity in this photo despite the fact she is trying to cover herself up. She could be perceived as looking slightly alarmed, but in my opinion it looks more like she is just caught in the moment. She is aware we see her nakedness and does not mind, she nearly seems emotionless. Venus’ torso was often portrayed as naked and that is how she can often be identified. The statue is almost sexual in a sense, but yet does not cross that line.
This sculpture really entranced me and caught my attention. I understand why people travel far and wide to view it. Not only is the discovery a great story, but the piece itself is amazing to see in person.
Art and Architecture of France
Professor Slavkova
Journal Entry # 5
For my fifth journal entry I decided to talk about the Venus de Milo located in the Louvre in Paris, France. It was sculpted by the artist Alexandro's of Antioch between the years 130 and 100 BC. It is made out of marble and is life size about 203 cm high. It is known as one of the greatest works in Ancient Greek sculpture. I chose this sculpture from the Louvre because I thought its history was fascinating. It was found on the Aegean Island of Milo which is Greece in 1820. It was found buried in the ruins of the ancient city located in Milo.
The statue is of the goddess Venus known as Aphrodite to the Greeks. She was the goddess of love and beauty which can be reflected in the sculpture. She is a single woman that is missing her arms. She is wearing a cloth over her torso and her breasts are exposed. The drapery along her waist sort of falls on her body. Overall the statue does not form a straight vertical line, but instead her body forms a spiral line. She is positioned strategically as a three dimensional figure. It is thought that originally when she had arms one arm was holding the drapery her bottom half is covered up with. It has been figured out her other hand was holding an apple. The statue was most likely painted at one time, but now is simply just the color of marble.
It is believed the sculpture reflects artistic qualities from the Hellenistic period. The statue is atheistically pleasing which is one of the reasons it is so famous. Venus does not seem to be ashamed of her nudity in this photo despite the fact she is trying to cover herself up. She could be perceived as looking slightly alarmed, but in my opinion it looks more like she is just caught in the moment. She is aware we see her nakedness and does not mind, she nearly seems emotionless. Venus’ torso was often portrayed as naked and that is how she can often be identified. The statue is almost sexual in a sense, but yet does not cross that line.
This sculpture really entranced me and caught my attention. I understand why people travel far and wide to view it. Not only is the discovery a great story, but the piece itself is amazing to see in person.
Here is the great Venus de Milo
I was also able to see several other famous sculptures and statues at the Louvre - I wont bore you with details, but here are a few more pictures. Most of the statues in the Louvre were from Ancient Rome and Greece and were of emperors, rulers, God's and Goddesses.
Adrian and I had a really nice day at the Louvre despite the fact I could not find my teacher. The weather in Paris has been very gloomy so it was a nice way to spend another rainy day. The next day on Thursday I went to another museum with my art class... thankfully this time I was able to find my teacher! We went to Petit Palais known as the "Little Palace" in English. It is across the street from the "Big Palace". Both the big and little Palace were built in 1900 for the world fair also known as the Universal Exhibition. The fair was to show off the advanced technology and ideas the French had for their time including communications and technology. For instance, the Metro system in France was built in 1900 as well to show off to the rest of the world how more advanced France was than everywhere else.
The museums were built in a style referred to as Eclectic. In other words, versatile, magnificent and beautiful. Both museums have the features of a classical and modern building. Ionic Columns lined throughout the outside of the museum.
A lot of the artwork we saw was from the Renaissance and Medieval time period. One of my favorite things at the museum was the royal chair. It reminded me of something right out of a movie. It was used by a Duke in Northeast France and his wife. They were carried by their servants in this device.
My teacher also explained a lot about various paintings. For instance the one below. It is of a man sniffing tobacco. She explained his eyes are red because of the high sniffing tobacco gave him. It is a comical painting for that reason. At the time tobacco was quite new and imported from the Americas. Only the rich could obtain it. This painting combines both realism and idealism. It was painted in the 17th Century.
This next painting I found very interesting. Our teacher explained that hair was sign of masculinity in the 17th Century for men. Hence the reason a lot of them wore wigs. This next painting portrayed a man balding. It represented this man being exposed and natural. Our teacher explained this has a lot of hidden meaning behind it.
There were many other paintings throughout the museum that really caught my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. My teacher is basically a genius when it comes to art and knows so much. After our hour and a half visit we made our way outside towards the Tuleries Gardens the famous gardens located behind the Louvre in Paris. On our way we walked past a restaurant. My teacher asked me what my major was and when I told her Journalism and a minor in Politics she started pointing various things out to me. One thing she pointed out was a restaurant. She said when Nicholas Sarkozy won the French election this was the restaurant he had this celebratory party at. In recent months, as the next French election quickly approaches, he has admitted his regret for having his party there. He was under a lot of criticism because his party had cost millions of dollars and was rather rowdy. For a politician looking to appeal to those being consumed by the current downhill economy this is quite possibly not a great look
Next we passed the Egyptian obelisk (actually from Egypt) located in the middle of a driving square in Paris. Located to my left was also the French Parliament. This is also the spot where Marie Antoninette and Louis XVI were guillotined.
While we were standing taking photos of the Obelisk a motorcycle brigade of about one-hundred cyclists drove by. They were circling the square, revving their engines. I could not help but stop for a second and reflect. For those that do not know a boy from my graduating High School class was just killed in a motorcycle accident last week. I went all through grade school up until the 12th grade with him. It was a tragic accident and the Clifton Park community lost another member way too early. I would like to take this moment to send my condolences and prayers to the Obernesser family and all of Sean's friends. I like to think the motorcycle brigade was a sign. Always hold your loved ones close and tell them you love them, because you never know when it could be too late.
Next we were onto the gardens. Our teacher brought us here because the gardens used to be where the palace Marie Antoinette lived in was located. The palace burned down in 1871. The gardens were designed specifically so that the palace would overlook them. The gardens are also an optical illusion. They were designed so you can look from one end to another end of the gardens and it looks like it is a perfect straight line, even though that would geometrically impossible. At one end of the garden is one Arch of Triumph and the other end is another Arch. Paris has three Arch's of Triumph in total. The arches represent war victories. All three arches are on the same axis.
The gardens were built by Andre Le Norte who was the son of the King's Gardner. He also designed the Versailles gardens. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous even on a cloudy rainy day in Paris.
Afterwards our class was basically over and just in time because it started to pour. It was also midterm week this past week. I think I did pretty well on both my Art Midterm and Metaphysics. Metaphysics has been very difficult for me and after being up all night the day before the Midterm I was in tears and very frustrated. Thankfully, Ricardo stepped in and tried to walk me through the entire class. It is a difficult subject, but thanks for his help and a lot of studying I think I did well.
Yesterday I went to Normandy and because I think it deserves an entire Blog post in itself I am going to begin writing that one next. Stay tuned. I hope this post did not bore you too much! Two weeks from today and I am back in the United States...so crazy. Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!
XOXO
Shann
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