The Louvre


Photo 1: The Louvre's below ground entry hall.  Light streams in through Pei's glass  pyramid. Note the free- standing, open elevator inside the circular stairway at right.		 As an antidote to the American influence of Disney, we decided to go to the Louvre on Friday. We took the Metro to the museum station and found a very upscale modern glass and marble shopping center. The museum shops filled an entire wing of the area. After walking down the museum shop wing, we found ourselves in a very large, two story underground square, lighted by the large glass pyramid in the center. This is the main entrance of the museum complex. Above ground, the Louvre Palace looks essentially the same historic buildings (except for the glass pyramid).

We spent the entire day, starting in the Richelieu wing where the sculptures are. When we finally got to the Egyptian section in the Sully wing after noon, we decided that we would never make it through the whole museum and we headed for the famous stuff. As we got around to the Denon wing, signs started appearing showing the way to the Giacono (Mona Lisa). Apparently, we were not the only ones to head for the prime attractions!


Photo 2: The Mona Lisa (center) in her own little terrorist-resistant alcove.		 Fortunately, we went through several other galleries of European paintings before getting to Mona. There were many pictures that were amazing for their size even though their content was equally marvelous. The Wedding Feast at Cana is a very large (6x9 meters) painting covering the entire wall to the left of the Mona Lisa. It was much more impressive to me.

The little hand held digital audio guide was very helpful in explaining what we were seeing. The Louvre uses the same kind as we saw at Bath. When we finally got to the gallery where Mona was, there was a great knot of oriental tourists around the picture, taking their own amateur photos of the famous masterpiece through the glass.

Photo 3: The Wedding Feast at Cana.
Click on this thumbnail picture to see a larger version (640x480 pixels).

 The gallery is large and tall with paintings covering every wall. The floor is light hardwood and there are six small domestic type humidifiers spread along the walls. Apparently modern HVAC hasn't made it into this part of the museum yet. Much of the light comes in through a large skylight, but there are lots of incandescent spots arranged to highlight the paintings. Considering what has happened in the last few years, it was not wholly unexpected to see that the Mona Lisa painting is enclosed in a sort of closet with a window for viewing. It was even more amazing to note that none of the other equally beautiful and priceless art was just hanging open on the walls.

Then we went down to the lower level to see the Venus di Milo with the rest of the European statuary. Again there was a great crowd of tourists elbowing each other for a view (or picture) of the famous torso. After making our way around the statue, we went up the back stairs to the new section which shows the ancient beginnings of the Louvre palace and shows the history of the island where it is situated.

Photo 4: The Venus de Milo (center) stands out among the crowds.
The Louvre Museum at night. I.M. Pei's glass pyramid looked great with the light shining up through. Some of my French friends don't like the ultra-modern intrusion into the historic palace. Click on this thumbnail picture to see a larger copy and discussion of the special façade lighting.

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