EP 113: Paris History Avec A Hemingway (Ladies of The Louvre Part II)

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The Musée du Louvre and it’s list of amazing art is endless and hard to know where to even start. We will help share a few pieces that you don’t want to miss on your next trip to Paris. 

In 1848 Louis Philippe commissioned 20 statues for the Jardin du Luxembourg. He picked each one that went from Queen Berthe to Anne d’Autriche and included Jeanne d’Arc. The Maid of Orleans was sculpted in 1845 by Francois Rude and was placed in the south side of the garden in 1852. In 1871 she was removed and eventually came to live in the Louvre. 

Jeanne d’Arc is normally captured in her armor and charging off to battle, but Rude decided to depict her in a dress with her armor at her feet with her right hand near her ear as she listened to the voices of the saints. 

Eugène Delacroix, the leader of the Romantic movement's most recognized painting is La Liberté guidant le people, painted in 1830. The painting commemorates the Paris uprising of July 1830, known as the Trois Glorieuses, that ousted King Charles X.  

Using the barricade as a pedestal, her movement evokes that of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, although the statue was discovered long after Delacroix painted this masterpiece. In the top right of the photo, the towers of Notre Dame rises from the smoke with a small tricolor flying in the wind. The painting inspired Bartholdi when he created the Statue of Liberty, with her right arm holding up a torch instead of a flag.  

The Coronation of Napoleon (Le Sacre de Napoléon) is an immense painting that stretches 33 feet across the Pompei red walls of the Salle Daru. David was commissioned by Napoleon himself, and didn't start the actual piece until a year later, with Napoleon making a few specific changes and additions to the painting that were different from the actual event. The biggest being his mother, sitting in the balcony above him. She was not a  fan of Josephine, and was still in Rome and refused to attend. 

Listen to the full episode to learn even more about these three pieces including the jealous sisters that tried to foil the whole thing. Link in bio

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