{"id":8427,"date":"2024-10-24T19:45:53","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T01:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/?p=8427"},"modified":"2024-10-24T19:45:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T01:45:53","slug":"loony-louvre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/?p=8427","title":{"rendered":"LOONY LOUVRE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was a quick metro ride from where we\u2019re staying to the Louvre.  It was easy finding the entrance to the museum\u2014just follow the swarming humanity.  The Louvre is laid out like a large limestone palace enclosing a large courtyard.  I expected touring this monstrosity to be taxing when it came to attention span because there\u2019s too much to see in one visit.  So selecting out most of the Greek sculpture and Napoleon\u2019s plundered Egypt as well as the centuries of royal furniture I was bent on the galleries featuring early Flemish painting, Italian Renaissance painting, and some of the huge early 19th century French masterworks.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Early look at Patinir\u2019s masterpiece<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Easier planned than carried out.  First, I have to make clear that Ella warned me.  Initially she tolerated my eagerness to explore this famous repository of art.  As the morning drew on her tolerance grew thin.  By the time we left she was desperate to escape.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter what floor you\u2019re on it\u2019s hard to find the gallery you\u2019re looking for on the museum map.  Entrances to collections aren\u2019t always marked. Early Northern European painting is all over the place and not in any kind of logical progression.  Following the map\u2019s directions, we headed towards the wing which purportedly held the Van Eycks and ended up trying to shake loose a locked gate.  We asked a museum attendant what was up and he said that the collection was closed.  This was exasperating since there was no mention throughout the museum of any gallery being closed.  I began to get the uncomfortable feeling why someone could spend a whole day inside the Louvre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the rooms dedicated to the Italian Renaissance painters was insane.  Different museum guides gave different directions.  We were pointed to elevators that were out of order, stairs that led to extensive hallways filled with artifacts looted from Egyptian tombs.  (There\u2019s nothing like being lost and locking eyes with a carved obsidian canine-headed human.)  Finally we came across a series of La Giaconda posters with arrows leading us through room after room of richly upholstered spindly-legged chairs (the cushions for courtiers collection) only to end up on a landing where the Mona Lisa smile snickered as we yanked on a locked door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should have just followed the swarm.  Coming down a large staircase we ploughed into a mass of cellphone wielding onlookers mobbed at the foot of the Winged Victory.  
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Winging it over the mob<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A sizeable portion of this crowd was funneling towards a floor that had yet another snickering Mona Lisa poster pointing to a gallery that actually was the Italian Renaissance wing of the museum.  Initially I was worried that this crush of humanity would make viewing most of the paintings a fight for perspective, but it turned out that very few visitors were interested in pausing for Giotto, Mantegna, or Fra Angelico.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Following the stream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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No one stopped to gaze at the Giotto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

No, the swarm was on a pilgrimage to get a cell shot of one painting.  At least, I told myself, I wouldn\u2019t miss where the Mona Lisa was safely encased in her small glass shrine.  
<\/p>\n\n\n

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Crowding Mona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Mona unclustered<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankly, I was more intrigued by the Ingres and huge Davids and Delacroix in the following rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ingres\u2019 Roger Freeing Angelica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Sardanapalus edges the Mona Lisa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Most of all, I was just glad to get the hell out of the museum and away from the crowd that kept pouring in as we passed countless fancy indoor shops before we hit the street bordering the Tuileries park.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a quick metro ride from where we\u2019re staying to the Louvre.  It was easy finding the entrance to the museum\u2014just follow the swarming humanity.  The Louvre is laid out like a large limestone palace enclosing a large courtyard.  I expected touring this monstrosity to be taxing when it came to attention span because there\u2019s too much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discovering-france"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8427"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8475,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8427\/revisions\/8475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grubbella.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}