Mona Lisa

Home - Activities - Thematic TraiIs - Masterpieces of the Louvre - AccessibIe SeIf-Guided Tour
Thematic TraiIs : Masterpieces of the Louvre - AccessibIe SeIf-Guided Tour

Leonardo di ser Piero DA VNC, dit Lonard
de VNC (Vinci, 1452 - Amboise, 1519) La
Joconde (dtail)
Muse du Louvre/A. Dequier
Author(s)
Sandrine Bernardeau, confrencire RMN
Direction des Publics, conseil la visite.
Introduction
Opening days : Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Duration : 1 hr. 30 mins.
Audience Development :
On their first visit to the Louvre, people often want to see the museum's three
great ladies the Venus de Milo, the Victory of Samothrace, and Mona Lisa.
As you follow this accessible guided tour, you will (re)discover these and other
key works and reflect upon that indefinable notion of "masterpiece.
When the museum first opened in 1793, playing host to the former royal
collections, its goal was to provide illustrious educational models for the artists
of the future to ensure the revival of the "grand style of the past. Although you
will still come across students and copyists in the exhibition rooms today,
museum policy has changed radically. Nearly six million visitors from every
country and culture in the world flock to the Louvre each year, and there are
several different ways of visiting the museum. However, there is always a
quasi-universal crowd around certain "masterpieces, which seem to strike a
chord in the hearts of all spectators, whatever their nationality or culture.
n the 4th century BC, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote that an artist could
never attain ideal Beauty. Artists of every generation have been confronted with
this question of supreme, timeless Beauty and suggested answers that
reflected the age in which they lived and their particular genius. Some of these
answers still seem to find an echo in us today.But with the arrival of the 19th
century, the work of art acquired new functions and the masterpiece was no
longer necessarily synonymous with Beauty, with aesthetic abstraction
intended to delight the eye. Some works resounded with this new tone, in many
ways heralding the status of contemporary works in present-day society.
Far from being chronological, this tour spotlights works in front of which visitors
spontaneously come to a halt.
Route
Starting from the Pyramid, head toward the Sully wing. Go round the escalators
and take elevator D or E (on your right) to the mezzanine floor
("Mezzanine-accs aux collections"). Enter the Sully wing and head toward the
Medieval Louvre; turn left at the entrance and take elevator G to the 1st floor.
Turn right out of the elevator, and cross the landing to enter the Bronze Room.
Go straight on into Room 74. Turn right; elevator C is on your right when you
leave the room. Take the elevator down to the ground floor to Greek
Antiquities. The first work on the trail, the Venus de Milo, is on your left when
you enter Room 7.
2005-%copyright% Muse du Louvre. All rights reserved. Page 1 / 11 | 21-04-2011
Aphrodite, known as the "Venus de Milo"
Late 2nd century BC
N d'entre LL 299 (n usuel Ma 399)
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities
R.M.N./Arnaudet - J. Schormans
Denon
Ground FIoor
Rotonde de
Mars
Aphrodite, known as the Venus de MiIo
Description
There's nothing more frustrating than studying Greek art, given that the
originals are so few and far between and are never seen in their original state.
Could you imagine this statue with arms, and adorned with jewelry and color?
The Venus de Milo, or Aphrodite of Melos (named after the Greek island on
which it was discovered in 1820), is one of these magnificent originals. 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. And with her,
Greek art gave birth to all Western art's female nudes. Certain stylistic details
indicate a dating of around 100 BC. Her elongated silhouette, position in space,
and very sensual, realistic nudity link this work to the Hellenistic period (32331
BC), the last great era in Greek history. Her neutral, impassive face, however,
forms a stark contrast, rather like a mask that has been added on. Timeless
and emotionless, it is comprised of a play on proportions: it is three times as
long as the nose, which is a continuation of the forehead in this "Greek profile
which the Greeks, of course, did not actually have! What the sculptor was
seeking to depict was divine beauty, that of Plato's ideals, not worldly reality.
This image "that expresses beauty in a language which is always our own
(Alain Pasquier) provides a fine answer to the eternal quest for Beauty; in short,
it is a timeless masterpiece.
Route
Take elevator C to the first floor. Turn left, then left again in the rotunda and go
into the Galerie d'Apollon. Admire the gallery's treasures; then go to the far end
of the room, where a door leads into the Salon Carr. Ask a museum attendant
to open this door for you, and enter the Salon Carr. Go straight ahead into the
Grande Galerie. When you reach the statue of Diana the Huntress, turn right:
the Mona Lisa is in front of you.
Leonardo di ser Pietro DA VNC, known as
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci, 1452
Amboise,1519)
Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco
del Giocondo
Between 1503 and 1506
NV. 779
Paintings
Muse du Louvre/A. Dequier - M. Bard
Denon
1st FIoor
SaIIe des
Etats
Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco deI Giocondo
Description
Acquired by Francis in 1518, acclaimed by artists of the day, the Mona
Lisa also known as La Gioconda only earned her worldwide fame in the
20th century, more on account of her "adventures" theft (191114), stoning
(1956), travels to the United States (1963) and Tokyo and Moscow (1974)
than her outstanding qualities. Da Vinci's dazzling, almost magical technique
models the forms through his use of glazes (very diluted, quasi-transparent
layers of paint), playing with light and shade effects by making the contours
hazy ("sfumato"). Aerial perspective, moving from brown to blue, creates,
through the density of the air, an abstract landscape made up of earth and
water. What a pity that the colors darken as the varnish ages: the sleeves were
once saffron yellow. The model's identity has given rise to the oddest
suggestions at times, even going as far as to say that she was a man. t is
probably a portrait, begun in Florence between 1503 and 1507, of Monna
("Mrs.") Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo. Her smile could thus be a symbol of her
name, "gioconda" also meaning "cheerful."
While this is one of the period's largest portraits, painted on a single, very thin
(12 mm) poplar board, it is not an ostentatious image of a rich bourgeoise lady,
although her pose and attire and the absence of eyelashes and eyebrows are
in keeping with the elegance of her station. t is above all an ideal portrait,
reflecting Renaissance interest in Platonic theory, when the beauty of the body
was seen as that of the soul.
Route
Turn around to admire The Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese.
Paolo CALAR, known as VERONESE
(Verona, 1528 Venice, 1588)
The Wedding Feast at Cana
15621563
nv. 142
Paintings
R.M.N.
Denon
1st FIoor
SaIIe des
Etats
The Wedding Feast at Cana
Description
This huge canvas once adorned the refectory of the monastery of San Giorgio
Maggiore in Venice. Here, Veronese, acclaimed as a colorist and for painting
vast, multifigured scenes, chose to depict Christ's first miracle, performed
during the Marriage at Cana. Working the perspective so as to draw the
spectator into the scene, he transposed the biblical episode to his own era, rich
16th-century Venice. Note the splendor of the fabrics, the sumptuous jewelry,
silver and silver-gilt tableware, and the elegant Palladian architecture, which set
a magnificent stage for this story, which is supposed to have taken place in the
home of poor people who ran out of wine during a wedding feast. n the center,
on Christ's right, Mary holds an invisible glass in her hand to show that there is
no wine left. n 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.
A man clad in green hurries toward the newlyweds, on the left in front of the
columns, to ask why the best wine was kept for the end of the banquet.
Another reading of the work moves vertically from the symbolic image of the
butchers chopping up meat to the hourglass on the musicians' table and the
dog chewing a bone: it heralds the "sacrifice of the Lamb," the death of Christ,
who revealed his true nature by performing this miracle. But the dogs are also
an allegory of fidelity, that of Christians whose faith will sweep away the clouds.
Route
Go back toward the Mona Lisa, then head toward the end of the room. You will
see paintings by Titian and Tintoretto as you pass to the right of the Mona Lisa.
Continue straight ahead into Room 74 (French painting). Head toward the red
room to your right, where you can admire Jacques-Louis David's famous
painting, The Coronation of Napoleon, on your left.
Jacques-Louis DAVD - Paris, 1748 -
Bruxelles, 1825
The Coronation of the Emperor Napoleon
and the Crowning of the Empress Josphine
in Notre-Dame Cathedral on December 2,
1804
1806 - 1807
NV. 3699
Paintings
Muse du Louvre/E. Lessing
Denon
1st FIoor
Daru.
NeocIassicism
The Coronation of the Emperor NapoIeon I and the Crowning of the
Empress Josphine in Notre-Dame CathedraI on December 2, 1804
Description
t took David three years to complete this vast painting commissioned by
Napoleon to immortalize his coronation on 2 December 1804 at Notre-Dame.
Specially redecorated for the occasion in neoclassical style with painted
trompe-l'oil wooden paneling, the choir of the cathedral resembles a theater
stage in which each actor has his place amidst the grandiose scenery. As in
any work of political propaganda, there are certain notable arrangements with
reality: the presence of the emperor's mother on a throne in the center, when in
fact she was absent that day, as she was angry with her son; or the idealized
beauty of a slimmer, taller Napoleon and a younger Josephine, rejuvenated by
the brush of a diplomatic artist, recently appointed First Painter to the Emperor.
t depicts Napoleon crowning Josephine, blessed without great conviction by
Pope Pius V, seated behind the emperor, and is less provocative than the
painting in which he crowns himself.
Amidst the 150 portraits of spectators, his skillful lighting effects play up these
central figures, lingering over the brilliance of a jewel, the richness of a fabric,
or the softness of a velvet cushion. 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. Yet the most lifelike figure of them
all is Talleyrand, dressed in red, on the right. He seems to be casting an ironic
eye on this ostentatious display.
Route
One of David's early masterpieces, The Oath of the Horatii, is on the wall
opposite the Coronation of Napoleon. But first, take a moment to admire the
outspread wings of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, just in front of you.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Circa 190 BC
Ma 2369
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities
R.M.N./G. Blot
Denon
Ground FIoor
Victory of
Samothrace
staircase
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Description
An original Greek statue probably destroyed by an earthquake, this work was
found in countless pieces in 1863 on the island of Samothrace, in the northeast
Aegean. The right wing is a plaster copy of the left wing, the only one to have
survived. The cement base beneath its feet is also modern; the statue initially
stood on the sculpted prow of the ship. t loomed out of a hilltop sanctuary at an
angle, which explains why less attention was paid to carving the right-hand
side.
The Victory "Nike in Greek is shown as if she were just alighting on the
prow of the ship to which she is bringing divine favor. Discovered in 1950, her
right hand enabled her original gesture to be restored: with her raised hand,
she announces the coming event. Staged in spectacular fashion very much in
keeping with Hellenistic taste, she could be seen from afar by ships
approaching the island. The proportions, the rendering of the bodily forms, the
manner in which the drapery flapping in the wind is handled, and the
expansiveness of the highly theatrical gesture all bear witness to the search for
realism in sculpture dating from this period.
After examining certain stylistic details, scholars believe that this monument
might be a votive offering from the Rhodians to thank the gods for a naval
victory around 190 BC, but Andr Malraux was delighted with the accidental
mutilation of this statue, which turned it into a timeless icon of Western art "a
masterpiece of destiny.
Route
Leave Greek sculpture for the moment, and admire David's Oath of the Horatii,
to your left.
Jacques-Louis David (Paris, 1748-Brussels,
1825)
The Oath of the Horatii
1784
NV. 3692
Paintings
R.M.N./G. Blot - C. Jean
Denon
1st FIoor
Daru.
NeocIassicism
The Oath of the Horatii
Description
These works invariably bring back memories of school textbooks. They
illustrated noble sentiment and great heroism in the chapter on the French
Revolution. But, in fact, it was Louis XV who encouraged the birth of this style
in reaction to the frivolous, feminine spirit of the preceding period, when
mythology was more a pretext for female nudity than for the edification of the
viewer. n this return to the antique, the Revolutionaries, extolling the ultimate
sacrifice made for the homeland, borrowed outstanding episodes from Roman
history that served their own ideology. Jacques-Louis David became the leader
of this "neoclassical movement and painted the masterpiece of the genre.
Rome's chosen champions, the Horatii, swear an oath of loyalty before their
father. Only one of the three brothers would return alive from their duels with
the Curiatii, in the city of Alba. He would kill his own sister, Camilla, because
she mourned the death of her betrothed, a Curiatius. The very sober scene, lit
like a theater stage, is set in an austere republican house. The straight lines
and warm, strident colors of the male figures form a contrast with the fluid lines
and softer tones of the group of resigned, despondent women. The illusionary
perfection of the technique, in which any trace of the brush was considered
"vulgar, stemmed from David's desire to "paint like people spoke in Sparta. t
gives the spectator the quasi-disturbing impression of a snapshot taken over
2,000 years ago.
Route
Make your way back to the entrance of the room. Facing you on the wall
between the two doors is La Grande Odalisque, by Jean-Auguste Dominique
ngres.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique ngres (Montauban,
1780-Paris, 1867)
Une Odalisque
1814
R.F. 1158
Paintings
Muse du Louvre/A. Dequier - M. Bard
Denon
1st FIoor
Daru.
NeocIassicism
OdaIisque
Description
Here, ngres transposed the antique theme of the female nude to the Near
East, a place he had traveled to only in his dreams and the pretext for the
sensual image of a naked woman in a harem hence the title, The Large
Odalisque set against an exotic background. Until the end of his life, ngres
continued to paint exotic scenes and female nudes, one of his favorite subjects
as in The Turkish Bath drawing on influences as diverse as Raphael, the
Mannerists, and Persian miniatures. Whereas ngres, like his master David,
was a classical artist in terms of technique and his interest in antiquity, which
he showed in other works, he distanced himself from this trend by giving priority
to draftsmanship, pure lines, and sensual curves, distorting anatomical reality if
necessary. This odalisque has three vertebrae too many. Likewise, her right
breast and left leg are joined to the rest of the body in a curious fashion. n
contrast to this physical deformity, the heavy blue drapery, the turban, and the
nargileh are treated in an illusionistic manner. The critics of his day, completely
nonplussed by this chimerical combination, berated his singular style. On the
other hand, ngres would have a strong influence on modern artists such as
Picasso, who gladly borrowed his ideas and his manner of recomposing bodies
to suit his own purposes. Besides, doesn't the somewhat cold blue and gold
tonal harmony lift this image permanently out of reality into an artist's pure
fantasy?
Route
Leave Room 75, go straight ahead into Room 77 (Romantic paintings). The
famous Raft of the Medusa, by Thodore Gricault, is on your left.
Thodore GRCAULT (Rouen, 1791 - Paris,
1824)
The Raft of the Medusa
Salon of 1819
NV. 4884
Paintings
R.M.N./D. Arnaudet
Denon
1st FIoor
MoIIien.
Romanticism
The Raft of the Medusa
Description
Romanticism's manifesto, this work caused a huge scandal at the Salon of
1819. For the first time, an artist had depicted an event from contemporary
history without having received a commission and had filled his composition
with anonymous figures in a format hitherto reserved for historical painting.
Precursor of the critical spirit that so often motivates art today, the subject was
a caustic statement on the government then in power: in 1816, the frigate
"Medusa sank because of the incompetence of a captain who had obtained his
post through political relations. Due to a shortage of lifeboats, 149 people piled
onto a raft that drifted for twelve days. Only fifteen survived the ensuing
slaughter, madness, and cannibalism.
Seen from one corner, the raft appears very unstable, while two diagonals
heighten the dramatic tension: one leads the eye to the vast wave that
threatens to engulf the raft, the other leads to the tiny silhouette of "The Argus,
the ship that eventually rescued them. This long oblique line evokes the
tragedy the torso of a man who has perhaps been devoured by his
companions and the various psychological states of mind: the dejection of
the bewildered man holding his dead son, the dying man rising up with a start,
and the desperate hope of those waving to their potential rescuer. But at this
point in time, nobody knew which way the scales of fortune would tip. The only
hero in this poignant story is humanity, and that is what still moves us today.
Route
On the same wall to the right: Liberty Leading the People, by Eugne
Delacroix.
Eugne DELACROX
(Charenton-Saint-Maurice, 1798 Paris,
1863)
July 28: Liberty Leading the People
Salon of 1831
R.F. 129
Paintings
R.M.N./H. Lewandowski
Denon
1st FIoor
MoIIien.
Romanticism
JuIy 28. Liberty Leading the PeopIe
Description
This work is unlike others by Delacroix, who was especially drawn to exotic
subjects. His compositions inspired by contemporary events were rare.
n July 1830, three days of riots known as "Les Trois Glorieuses led to the
downfall of Charles X and the enthronement of Louis-Philip, despite a vain
attempt by the people of Paris to re-establish the Republic on 28 July, the day
celebrated here. The belltowers of Notre-Dame situate the scene behind the
huge barricade, already piled with corpses. Striding over the top, Phrygian
bonnet on her head and rifle in hand, the allegorical figure of the Republic
waves the tricolor flag and urges the people to follow her. The different classes
of society can be recognized from the clothes in which they are dressed.
Political awareness is epitomized by the boy, the emblematic Parisian street
urchin and forerunner of Victor Hugo's character Gavroche, who takes his
destiny into his own hands despite his young age.
This powerful, innovative painting caused an uproar at the Salon of 1831. The
freedom of the artist's brushwork depicted the Republic not as a symbolic
image but as a real woman dirty, half-naked, and hirsute. Only
smooth-skinned, allegorical nudity was acceptable! This forceful work also
heralded the critical function of contemporary art. Louis-Philip grasped the
message only too well: he purchased the painting to commemorate his
accession to the throne, then hid it away so that its subversiveness could not
turn against him.
Route
Go back into Room 74, take elevator K or L down to the ground floor for the
final part of this tour. Turn right out of the elevator, and take elevator M to the
ground floor (talian Sculpture gallery). Michelangelo's Slaves face you at the
end of the Gallery.
Michelangelo BUONARROT, known as
Michelangelo
The Slave
1513-1515
M.R. 1589
Sculptures
Muse du Louvre/P. Philibert
Denon
Ground FIoor
MicheIangeIo
gaIIery
SIave
Description
Works by Michelangelo are seldom found outside taly, but the Louvre owns
these two virtuoso statues, given to the king of France by the Florentine
Roberto Strozzi, who received them from the artist himself. They belong to a
group the other statues are in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence
intended to adorn the tomb of Pope Julius , originally a colossal project but
modified several times and finally scaled down drastically. Many interpretations
of these statues are possible: symbols of surmounted passion, of the soul
enchained by the body, or of nations subjected to the pope's authority. They
could also represent the imprisonment of the arts after the death of a great
patron (Julius had funded the decoration of the Sistine Chapel) for, at the foot
of the Dying or rather sleeping Slave, is a monkey, an allegory of painting
imitating reality in the way a monkey mimics mankind. The numerous marks left
by tools prove that these statues are unfinished. Unlike other sculptors,
Michelangelo generally worked on a block of marble from front to back, without
a model. Notice the hand of the Rebel Slave who is still imprisoned in the
marble. Only a formidable artist working directly on the marble would dare to be
so bold. Proud of his sculpture and unafraid of showing it, here is a
Renaissance artist proclaiming his freedom to choose what he creates, even
the moment when he puts down his chisel.
Route
You have reached the end of this accessible trail. To find the exit, take elevator
M to the Entresol level. Leave the Denon wing, then follow the mezzanine floor
to elevator D or E that will take you to the Pyramid. Take the tube elevator to
reach the exit.

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Home - Activities - Thematic TraiIs - Masterpieces of the Louvre - AccessibIe SeIf-Guided Tour

Thematic TraiIs : Masterpieces of the Louvre - AccessibIe SeIf-Guided Tour

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