To talk about the Louvre Museum in connection with a single painting is somehow strange. There are many masterpieces here, moreover, the Louvre itself is an absolute masterpiece with its amazing history that even Dan Brown could not have come up with.

The castle is located in the center of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. Its construction began in the 13th century under Philip II Augustus. The building was built like a fortress. It kept the royal treasury and archives, and also kept enemies of the French crown in prison casemates. The king himself preferred to live in the palace at Sita, on the site of the current Palace of Justice. The Louvre became the royal residence in the XIV century under Charles V. Under the heirs of Charles V, the royal residence left the palace. And only after more than a century and a half, already under Francis I, the court returned to it again.

In 1546, the architect of Francis I, Pierre Lescaut, began to rebuild the Louvre. The old fortress acquired the appearance of a Renaissance palace. The work was completed nine years later, in 1555, under King Henry II. Under Henry IV, a master plan for the reconstruction of the Louvre was drawn up. It provided for an increase in the area of the entire architectural ensemble by four times. In 1608, between the Louvre and the Tuileries, built in 1563 by Catherine de’ Medici, a gallery 420 meters long was erected along the banks of the Seine. It was called the Grand Gallery and became the basis of the future museum. It was assumed that the royal collections of unique valuables collected over a long time would be placed here.

Subsequent monarchs expanded the Louvre, built new buildings, replenished its collection of art objects.
But in 1674 Louis XIV moved his residence to Versailles. Many rooms of the Louvre remained unfinished. The palace, which had lost its significance as a royal residence, began to be occupied by various institutions and private tenants.

By the middle of the 18th century, the castle had completely fallen into decay: there was even a question of its demolition! But an unprecedented event happened: the Louvre was unexpectedly saved by Parisians. On October 6, 1789, they marched to Versailles to convince the king, Louis XVI, to return to Paris. And convinced.
During the revolution of 1848, the Louvre was again renamed, this time to the People’s Palace, but not for long. In the 1850s, the construction of the Louvre was completed by Napoleon III. In May 1871, during the days of the Paris Commune, a fire broke out in the museum. The building was damaged, but it was quickly restored.

For many centuries, everything valuable that was created by the masters of their time was collected in the Louvre.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the collection was replenished both through the acquisition of works of art and as a result of their donation by private collectors. Everyone can make a gift to the famous museum today: the Louvre’s official website (www.louvre.fr) has a special section for those who want to contribute financially to its prosperity.

In recent centuries, the Louvre has been living a measured life: no renaming is done anymore, and of the more or less recent reconstructions, perhaps, one deserves attention. Between 1985 and 1989, a pyramid consisting of glass segments was built by the famous architect Yo Ming Pei, which provides the best lighting for the vast underground hall of the museum. It is also the main and most famous entrance to the Louvre. Conservatives will like other entrances, especially since there are not such huge queues. The massive pyramid is surrounded by fountains and three smaller pyramids. Most modern images of the Louvre include new designs, and the idea was not accepted by everyone at first. Many saw in this “avant-garde” a threat to the historical appearance of the palace. Then, of course, they got used to, as in their time, to the Eiffel Tower and the Georges Pompidou Center.

ART OF THE ANCIENT WORLD Louvre Museum

One of the greatest creations of ancient Greek Hellenistic art is attributed to the sculptor Agesander. The sculpture of Venus de Milo was found in 1820 on the island of Milos, hence its name. At that time, the arms of the statue were not yet lost, and Venus supported the falling clothes. However, after the discovery of the sculpture, there was a dispute between the French and Turkish sides about the right to remove it from the island, and as a result, the hands of Venus were lost. In the following 1821, Venus de Milo was taken to the Louvre and appeared to the public as a “genius of pure beauty.”

The statue of the winged goddess of victory was created by the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes in memory of the naval victory. Its pedestal was a stone image of the prow of the ship, on which Nike seemed to have landed, giving the sailors victory in the battle. The statue was found on another Greek island – Samothrace, where there was a sanctuary of the Kabirs – the ancient Greek gods, who delivered from dangers and troubles. The sculpture was discovered in 1863 by the French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, who brought it to France.

The head, arms and one of the magnificent eagle wings of the statue are forever lost, but now two wings are proudly raised behind Nike’s shoulders – the second was recreated as an exact copy of the one that has survived. Repeated attempts were made to reproduce Nika’s hands, but all of them were unsuccessful, as they roughly destroyed the harmony of the image. It is not known what its original appearance as a whole was, but in the form in which the Nike of Samothrace has survived to this day, it has become one of the unsurpassed works of the Greek genius of the Hellenistic era.

Kouros is a sculptural image of a young man, which does not have a portrait resemblance to any real person, but represents the ideal of male beauty of the ancient Greeks of the archaic period. Often kouros served as tombstones for the dead.

Archaic art is characterized by the search for the right proportions of the human body. These sculptural images are monumental, the poses on them are strictly frontal. Ancient sculptors tried to convey the illusion of movement of the figure, so the left leg was depicted as a step forward, while in general the posture of the kouros remained unnaturally tense and “lifeless”.

In an effort to give the face warmth and emotional expression, the Greek masters enlivened it with a slight smile, called archaic. Today, this smile on an impenetrable stone face seems like an unsolved mystery, kept for centuries by marble kouros and kora (sculptures of girls). Only in the next, classical, period of ancient Greek art, sculpture will be freed from submission to the form of a stone monolith, will “get comfortable” in three-dimensional space, become more realistic, acquire the correct proportions and the ability to convey the human figure in motion.

The statue of the scribe was found in the burial places of the Old Kingdom in Saqqara. The scribe, whose identity is not known, must have held a high position in the pharaoh’s court. This is evidenced by the careful study of the details of the sculpture, attention to the face of the person being portrayed, the expression of his eyes, bordered by copper. This is not an ordinary “scribal”: in the oldest sculptural images of scribes, Egyptian masters immortalized prominent statesmen. The statue attracts with original colors, and the image of the scribe is remembered by a sharp look and an intellectual facial expression.

The portrait of a young girl belongs to the early Fayum portraits – funeral images of the dead, made using the encaustic technique (from the Greek word “ehkaio” – “burn out”) – wax painting with melted paints.

Fayum portraits are beautiful realistic paintings typical of the Hellenistic period of Egyptian history. They became a continuation of the local tradition of making funeral masks, but the technique of their creation and stylistic features belong to the Hellenistic culture: before Egyptian art did not know such a transfer of individual portrait features. Thanks to this amazingly realistic painting, many examples of which have been perfectly preserved to this day, one can imagine the appearance of people, the fashion for jewelry and hairstyles that existed at that distant time.

ART OF ITALY

The altarpiece by Cimabue from the church of San Francesco in Pisa has become one of the jewels of the Louvre collection. Cimabue’s manner of writing goes back to Byzantine, which is recognizable as an “iconic” style, but it already outlines a transition to a more lively and elegant painting. From this still timid desire to move away from strict canons originates the art of the Renaissance, the first stage of which was the Proto-Renaissance.

The image of the Mother of God sitting on the throne with the Child in her arms is still perceived as an icon, that is, a work of religious art, an object of worship and prayers. However, it already contains the transformation of the icon into a picture created to satisfy the aesthetic need of a person in the contemplation of beauty. The faces and composition remain iconic, but the artist allows himself liberties in the interpretation of the robes – he superbly paints the flowing folds of clothes and play of color, giving the viewer the opportunity to feel the lightness and beauty of matter.

Filippo Lippi, an artist of the Early Renaissance, having received a monastic upbringing, took a monastic vow and created religious compositions.

This is an altarpiece commissioned by the painter for the chapel dedicated to Saint Frediano in the church of Santo Spirito in Florence. The artist is a true singer of beauty. In the image of the Madonna and Child with heavenly angels, he creates charming images that amaze with sublime beauty. The angels are amazing in their spontaneity: they look thoughtfully around, one of them looks at the Madonna, who, holding the divine Child in her arms and lowering her eyes, approaches two kneeling saints – Frediano and Augustine.

Until 1810 the altar remained in the church. During the Napoleonic conquests, he was sent to France and never returned to his homeland. In 1814 the work ended up in the Louvre.

The Carrying of the Cross is a fragment of the altar known as the Orsini Polyptych. It is dedicated to the Passion of Christ and consists of six parts, now kept in various European museum collections.

This work by the master of the Sienese school Simone Martini is distinguished by the drama and emotional intensity that the artist brought to the traditional plot. On the faces of the characters, the feelings that overwhelm them are clearly read, which would be unthinkable for the Byzantine style of writing. The gestures and facial expressions of the heroes are pathetic and a little theatrical, but this expresses the artist’s personal attitude to the event of the Holy History depicted by him, his empathy.

Early Renaissance painter, Cosimo Tura was court painter of the House d’Este, Dukes of Ferrara.

The composition “Pieta with Saints” is part of the altar of St. George in Ferrara. Pieta is the mourning for Christ who died on the cross. The Mother of God is an indispensable participant in such compositions. The lifeless body of the Son is stretched out on her knees, next to it are the figures of the chosen saints who empathize with Her grief. There is no place for beauty here: the faces of all those present are distorted by sorrow and suffering, the face of Christ also bears the seal of the pains of the cross. To convey the emotional state of the characters, the artist uses the language of facial expressions and gestures, eloquently speaking about their experiences.\

ART OF FRANCE

Louise Moillon, the most famous master of the French still life of the 17th century, performed works for the highest aristocracy of France and the English king Charles I. The artist’s amazing painting technique served reason that over the following centuries her works were confused with the canvases of the Dutch, Flemish and even German masters. However, the still lifes of Moillon are not as complex as the works of the Dutch painters, and more calm. Her compositions with carefully painted fruits and vegetables lying on the table, in wicker baskets or porcelain vases, usually executed from a high point of view.

Louise Moillon infrequently included images of people in her works. The painting “Seller of vegetables and fruits” combines still life and genre scene. The figures of the owner of the fruit shop and her guest are a little constrained: the artist painted the gifts of the earth offered for sale with more love than their owner and buyer.

The painting “Gabrielle d’Estre with her sister” depicts two young women framed by red draperies, bathing in the bathroom. One of them (on the right) holds a ring – a pledge of fidelity. This is the favorite of King Henry IV Gabrielle d’Estre. To her left is her sister, who coyly, with two fingers, holds the nipple of Gabrielle’s breast.

Perhaps this gesture is an allusion to the future pregnancy of the king’s beloved. Gabrielle d’Este gave birth to three children from Heinrich. She was beautiful and smart, but there were ill-wishers at court who poisoned her at the age of 26. The painting was acquired by the Louvre in 1937.

Jean Clouet was the court painter of King Francis I. His work stood at the origins of the French portrait painting.

The portrait of the French king is depicted in rich Renaissance attire: a luxurious hat adorned with pearls, satin clothes lavishly embroidered with gold. On the drapery, which serves as a background for the portrait, they flaunt images of the crown, indicating that royal blood flows in the veins of the depicted. Before us an elegant man and a brilliant sovereign, recognized as one of the greatest and wisest monarchs of France. The external entourage does not distract the viewer’s attention from the face of the model and his deep, penetrating gaze. Francis he was handsome, tall, ambitious, chivalrously amiable, and bold to the point of recklessness.