Le Louvre

Popular History and Sites in the Louvre

Winged Victory

Winged Victory of Samothrace

• Statue of a female body with wings made from white marble.

• The messenger goddess Victory, Nike in Greek

• Dated to second century BC, the monument is an offering made in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods following a naval battle.

• It depicts the goddess spreading her wings in victory.

Aphrodite, Venus di Milo

• Her naked torso enabled her to be identified as Aphrodite, the Roman Venus, goddess of love and beauty, born out of the foam of the sea.

• Dating around 100 BC• She started the western view of nude sculptures

Mona Lisa

The Coronation of Napolean I

• It took David three years to complete this vast painting commissioned by Napoleon I to immortalize his coronation on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame.

• It depicts Napoleon crowning Josephine• David was the precursor of modern-day

photographers who immortalize celebrity events in magazines where luxury is supposed to feed the dreams of the public.

The Coronation

The Wedding Feast at Cana

• Here, Veronese chose to depict Christ’s first miracle, performed during the Marriage at Cana. Turning water into wine at a poor family’s marriage.

• Mary holds an invisible glass in her hand to show that there is no wine left.

• In the right foreground, the figure in yellow pours water that has turned into wine from a jar, a miracle witnessed by the two figures behind him.

Odalisque

Saint Mary Magdalene• The Catholic Church deemed Mary Magdalene

a saint in 1969• According to legend, the repentant sinner lived

a secluded life in the cave of Sainte-Baume, clothed only by her hair. Every day she was raised up in the sky by angels to hear the heavenly chorus

• The sculpture attempts to capture the feminine aesthetic, Gothic qualities and pure experience by sculpting her in the life-like form – natural curves, realistic body and angelic form.

Saint Mary Magdalene

Psych and Cupid

Psyche and Cupid

• Love story from the story Metamorphosis from 2nd Century AD (story as old as 4th Century BC).

• The story concerns overcoming love obstacles between Psyche (“soul” or “breath of life”)and Cupid (“desire” or “love”), and their ultimate union in marriage.

The Love Story • A king and queen had 3 beautiful daughters – Psyche being

the youngest and most beautiful. • She had admirers so far that it threatened the Love Goddess,

Venus. • Rumored that Psyche was the 2nd Venus – her daughter from a

union with a mortal. • Venus was offended and comissioned Cupid to work her

revenge; however, Cupid falls in love with her. • Her father believes she will never marry, based on words from

the Gods, so they clothe her in funeral attire and is sent away. • She wakes to find herself near a house where an unknown

man (who is really Cupid) makes her his wife and she becomes pregnant – although she’s never seen his face.

• She sees him, sees his beauty and injures herself on his arrow – also injuring him.

Crown Jewels

Crown Jewels• The French Crown Jewels comprise the

crowns, orb, scepters, diadems (type of head crown) and jewels that symbolized royalty within the French aristocracy between 752 and 1825.

• They were worn by many kings and queens of France and are the few that survived the Revolution of the French Monarchy.

• The rise of the middle class – overthrow of Versailles – left jewels and valuables stolen and sold.

Why so few Jewels exist• The Storming of Versailles • October 1789 women had gathered at the market place and the

tension manifested in a march on the royal palace itself. • The women wanted to demand bread from their sovereign and

began the 13 mile walk to Versailles. • The riot began but as the women made their way through Paris

other women from different marketplaces joined the march. • They were armed with normal kitchen tools such as kitchen blades

and forced several churches to ring their bells. The mob entered the Hotel de Ville where they demanded bread and arms. When the crowd reached the outskirts of Pairs it had grown to almost 10.000 people - many men had joined the movement as well. The Hotel de Ville was ransacked before the crowed moved on.

• March on to Versailles took about 6 hours in the pouring rain.

Why so few Jewels exist• The crowd loudly spoke of Marie Antoinette

but not in the most affectionate way; expressions such as "whore" and "bitch" was connected with her name - many even called for the Austrian's head.

• They favored the king, but blamed Marie Antoinette for living a lavish lifestyle.

• The storming ended with Marie laying her head on the railing outside the palace as a way of “surrendering”.

Napoleon III Apartments

Napoleon’s Background• A small man who did everything in

a big way.• Sent to Military school in France at

the age of 9.• Graduated at 16 and became a

lieutenant in the French Artillery.• At the age of 26 he became a hero

defending the National Convention from an attack by Royalists.

• A year later the Directory put Napoleon in charge of the entire French Army.

Napoleon Bonaparte

1769-1821

Napoleon the Statesman

• In 1799 Napoleon took over the French Government.

• He set up a new constitution based on the old Roman Consulate giving him complete control as dictator.

• This was ratified by a free election, in which the people of France, desperate for strong leadership, accepted Napoleon’s Dictatorship.

Napoleon’s Successes

• Domination of France’s Enemies on the Battlefield.

• Compromise with the Roman Catholic Church

• Restructure of the government.

• Reform of the legal and tax systems.

Victory on the Battlefield• Defeated the first coalition against France

during the revolution which included Austria, Prussia, England, Spain and the Netherlands.

• He then led the French to a conquest of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire

• When he returned from Egypt, he defeated a second coalition which included Russia, Austria, Portugal and the Ottoman Turks.

• Later he defeated of the Austrian and Russian forces of a third coalition.

• Finally he defeated a forth coalition made up of Prussian and Russian forces in central Europe.

• He seemed virtually unbeatable on the battlefield for nearly a decade from 1798 to 1808.

Peace with the Church• The French Revolution had

caused a great rift between the French Government and the Roman Catholic Church.

• Napoleon signed a concordat with the Pope which proclaimed Roman Catholicism as the cultural religion of the French Empire.

• Napoleon gained the good will of French Catholics who wanted to return to the Church and his regime was blessed by the Church in a public ceremony.

Tax and Legal Reforms• Napoleon established the

Bank of France to facilitate state finances.

• He ordered a land survey and established a new and fair direct tax system.

• He established a single uniformed legal code throughout France which protected property rights and enshrined the equality of all people under the law as well as freedom of religion.

Napoleon’s Legacy• Although a dictator, his empire spread

the ideals of the French Revolution throughout Europe and gave birth to Nationalism.

• The Napoleonic Code became, and remains, the basic model of all European legal systems.

• Napoleon’s policies led to the eventual establishment of public education throughout Europe.

• Napoleon’s sale of the Louisiana territory to the United States insured that England would someday be overshadowed by the new American nation.