II.4. TO DO WITH (OR WITHOUT) CHILDREN

USE KIDS' GIFT FOR OBSERVATION

"Mommy, look at the vampire!"

 

"That's the best part of my painting!"

-- An eight-year old and Eugène Delacroix, the artist, age 26

        Dante's barque,1822

In brief

• So that they'll love the Louvre 

• Mythology: Monsters, heroes and three centuries of French art, whose message changes with the times

• Street art, a mini-forest and new horizons 

*     *     *

Next,
So that they'll love the Louvre

II.4.1. SO THAT THEY'LL LOVE THE LOUVRE

MENU: 2.4.1. So that they'll love the Louvre

THE NEXT PAINTINGS ALL CARRY A MESSAGE. THESE PAGES REVEAL THEM, BUT HAVING THE CHILDREN FIND WHAT STRIKES THEM MAKES ATTENTION A GAME  

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, 1819

In brief

• Art that tells stories

• Reward sharp eyes

• Save the blockbusters for last

*    *    *

Next,

Art that tells stories

ART THAT TELLS STORIES

EACH WORK IN RUBENS' SERIES ON QUEEN MARIE DE MEDICIS ILLUSTRATES A DRAMA. 

Explain that nudity is the clothing of the gods, that the figures are superhuman and imaginary and that corpulence shows prosperity. 

• For children: a feisty queen, a prince, princesses and monsters

"The monster is the bad guy whom the queen defeated."

• For teens and adults, political messages...

...that highlight rulers, then the people

 and that a new elite adapts and drops

 when it feels secure enough to invent its own code. 

   

*     *     * 

Next, 

Reward sharp eyes

REWARD SHARP EYES

EIFFEL TOWER KEY CHAINS

"Touristy" places sell them for almost nothing...

On rue de Rivoli

At a bookseller's stall on the Seine

At the exit of the Odéon métro

...the souvenir shop under the Louvre adds a decoration

and multiplies the price by 12...

Letting the kids choose among the bunches 

that young Senegalese sell
in front of the museum and at many touristic sites

slightly boosts their meager revenues.

In any case...

 Brandishing them at Palais-Royal, across the street from the Louvre.

*     *     *

Next,

Save the blockbusters for last

SAVE THE BLOCKBUSTERS FOR LAST

THEN THEY'LL SURGE UP FROM THEIR MOST STRIKING ANGLES

Skip tours that highlight the Mona Lisa — not finding it is impossible:

As well, the choice is arbitrary, for the Louvre exhibits at least 300 masterpieces:

   The Gallery of the Louvre by Samuel Morse, 1830-1832 / zoom

Morse (the code's inventor) 

included it in his imaginary museum,

but as one work among others:

Begin the visit with works

that are less known and whose influence

on art history has been much greater.

*    *    *

Next section,

II.4.2.
Nobles, gods and heroes

II.4.2. NOBLES, GODS AND HEROES

MENU: 2.4.2. Nobles. Gods. Heroes 

MYTHOLOGY AND ALLEGORY SUDDENLY DOMINATE THE ART OF KINGS AND NOBLES*

(FROM ABOUT 1500)

*Hereditary landowners, who occupied a privileged legal status and controlled the State until the French and 1830 Revolutions overthrew them.

The change coincides with the vibrant capitalism explorations and discoveries launch:   

     Discoveries in 1502 /zoom 

This earliest map of the Age of Discovery was kept secretly at the Portuguese court. A diplomat had it cut in pieces, stole it and gave it to the Duke of Ferrare.

Confronted by commoners whose growing wealth meant challenge, nobles turned to the gods of Antiquity, Old Testament figures and Rome...

       Diane de Poitiers as Diana, goddess of the hunt, toward 1550 / zoom

Nudity, the clothing of gods

Diane de Poitiers was a member of the top nobility and the favorite of Henri II (1547-59). Nudity underscores her power: "Take me for a goddess!" this work trumpets.

The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau by Arnould De Vuez toward 1678, Baulme Fine Arts / zoom

Biblical figures are clothed,

but have the bodies of gods.  

In brief

• Background: All aspects of life buttress nobles' superiority 

• Supermen: the décor of châteaux and churches    

• A queen's apotheosis

• An plea for peace and a threat of revolt

• A tantrum changes the course of history... for awhile

*     *     *

Next,

Background: 

All aspects of life buttress nobles' superiority

BACKGROUND: ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE BUTTRESS BELIEF IN NOBLES' SUPERIORITY

ANTHROPOLOGISTS SAY THAT IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE REINFORCE EACH OTHER, THAT IS, STABILITY AND AUTHORITY

The same applies to the Old Regime where every aspect of life so buttressed nobles that commoners too took their primacy for granted.

Philip of France, Duke of Anjou in Costume of Antiquity by Jean Nocret, toward 1650 / zoom

The prince relates to the Romans. 

Nobles held the top posts in the State and Church

and especially the army...

paid no taxes, had the right to particular taxes and tolls, could purchase luxuries reserved to them alone, were judged by a court of their peers and if convicted were ceremoniously beheaded instead of hanged or burned.

They owned gibets, the number of beams for hanging depending on their rank. 

So ingrained was belief in position that an insult among commoners was,"Your father was a valet!" 

The valet Figaro's question to his noble master,

 "What have you done for all that wealth?

 You took the trouble to be born!"  

signals change.

But the economy had evolved. 

Do our societies work in the same way?   

*    *   *

Next,

Supermen: the decor of châteaux and churches

SUPERMEN: THE DECOR OF CHATEAUX AND CHURCHES

THAT OF CHATEAUX EVOKES OWNERS' PRIVATE LIVES AS IF THEY WERE GODS THEMSELVES, AND LINKS THEM WITH KINGS

Take mantelpieces, the most prestigious sites of glacial halls:

• At Écouen* on the northern frontier Jacob sins, leaves, returns and is forgiven, like the owner** who offends Diane de Poitiers, leaves the court and eventually reconciles with the king.

*The Renaissance Museum 

**The Constable of Montmorency (1493-1567) 

Esau's Hunt / zoom 

Old Testament figures play the same role as the gods, but are clothed.

 

• At Condé en Brie in Champagne a god carries off a woman. It alludes to the owner * making a married woman his mistress as Louis XIV had done, and imitates a statue at Versailles.

* The Marquis de la Faye, private secretary to Louis XIV

Claude Abron

Château de Condé - Aymeri de Rochefort

     Pluto Carries off Prosperine by François Girardon, toward 1690, Versailles / zoom

That mistress, the marquise de Montespan — the one suspected of black masses — chose the story of Helen of Troy as decor for her chateau.

-- Athénaïs, the Real Queen of France by Lisa Hilton, 2002

# # #

That of churches, whose sponsors were the nobles of the upper clergy, gave the poor the bodies of gods. Compare... 

End 11th century / zoom

End 16th century / zoom

# # #

The most important secular decor 

to use mythology and allegory

is Rubens's celebration of queen Marie de Medici

for her palace.

The 24 life-size paintings are now at the Louvre.

They are where this visit begins.

*     *     * 

Next,
A queen's apotheosis

A QUEEN'S APOTHEOSIS

THE LOUVRE DEVOTES AN ENTIRE ROOM TO THE MOST EXUBERANT PROPAGANDA EVER IMAGINED

Marie de Medici returns to power* and as a true Medici, hires the time's leading painter to present her life as she wants it told.

(Made in 1624-26)

* In 1621-1630. For the start of her story, please click.

The first modern biography uses allegory and mythology to tell her tale:

The room is almost empty — most visitors head to the publicized works —  so you will have it almost to yourself.

       The Regent militant. The Victory at Julich / zoom

 A white horse, symbol of royalty

How Marie might have been remembered had she not lost her temper : Please continue.

# # #

Tell the children about the conflict between Marie and her son Louis XIII, who at age 15 took power through a plot and an assassination. 

Then have them look for...

• Louis XIII, the teen-age prince. In 24 paintings he appears only seven times, and never in a dominate way. Marie wants to keep on ruling: 

    The Consignment of the Regency to the Queen / zoom

Marie commands. As he grows older Louis pretends to be retarded and almost everyone ignores him... regretting that mistake for the rest of their lives, which might be very short.

• The 14-year-old French and Spanish princesses, exchanged at the border

          The Exchange of the Princesses / zoom 

 The girl in white is Anne, Louis's bride

If your little girl dreams of being a princess and marrying a prince, tell her she would never see her family again. Plus, as a foreign princess the court might think she was a spy (as Anne actually was). 

A queen's sole path to influence: becoming regent should the king die and leave a son too young to rule. That was how both Marie and Anne came to exert 17th-century Europe's most important regencies. 

• Dogs, a way to fill empty space 

    The Coronation of Marie de Medici at Saint-Denis on May 13, 1610 / zoom

• Monsters: Marie's enemies, neutralized or defeated

        Louis XIII Comes of Age / zoom

        The Queen Reconciles with her Son / zoom

For teens, mention what's left out: The servant Leonora, the hustler Concini, Marie's banishment... (click if you haven't yet).

   The Expulsion from Paris, Alte Ponakothek, Munich

The rejected sketch of her disgrace

The series is important for itself, for its influence...

• David studied The Coronation of Marie de Medici, above, before beginning his most famous work:

The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and the Crowning of the Empress Josephine in Notre-Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804 by Jacques-Louis David / zoom

• The series' color and action influenced Eugène Delacroix, leader of the Romantics and creator of the most famous painting produced in France (please read on):

        The Death of Sardanapolus by Eugène Delacroix, 1827 / zoom

...and as an example of "alternative facts."

*     *     *

Next,
A plea for peace and a threat of revolt

A PLEA FOR PEACE AND A THREAT OF REVOLT

NOBLES' ART GLORIFIES WAR, BUT THESE WORKS INSIST ON PEACE. UNLESS...

A caduceus (two serpents coiled around a baton) symbolizes the accord of opposites, so wisdom and harmony, and in paintings where every detail is politically charged Rubens associates it with Marie alone.

 

-- Heroic Deeds and Mystic Figures by R.F. Miflin and R.E. Wolf, 1989,

analyzes the series in depth.

In the first work Mercury points the caduceus toward the line that joins the right hands of Apollo, Minerva and Marie with the abdomens of the Three Graces: Marie unites wisdom, culture and fertility, characteristics that fit her policy of peace and ardent opposition to Richelieu's, of war.

 

The Education of the Princess / zoom

 

The children in a following work evoke central question of the time, war or peace:  

The Consommation of the Marriage in Lyons / zoom 

Louis carries his scepter like a musket and turns away from his mother, while his charming little brother, Gaston d'Orleans, looks up at her adoringly. Junior princes legitimized revolts by leading them, and when this work was painted, in 1626, Gaston had already rebelled once.

*He would again, four times.

The work implies that should Louis refuse Marie's demand for peace, she might join the troublemaker next time.  

Intrepid...

Marie escapes from Blois chateau (in 1619), by Maurice Leloir in Théodore Cahu's Richelieu, 1901

Marie had already led two revolts herself, so that was not an empty threat.

The king studied the series and left without a word. It may have contributed to her downfall. 

# # #

But a dramatic mistake

 was the main reason for the queen's eclipse.

*     *     *

Next,
 Detour:

A tantrum changes the course of history... for awhile