Paris from fresh perspectives: July 2016

Thursday, July 14, 2016

II.5.4. THE GODS' MODERNITY

MENU: 2.5.4. The gods' modernity

GODDESSES, SYMBOLS STILL

Works iconic in France

and deities that parvenues still copy

At the Louvre, when you come to an arrow go the other way: Please click back

The first great work of defiance

A goddess becomes a plebeian revolutionary

The goddess's descendants

* * *

Next,

The first great work of defiance

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

THE FIRST GREAT WORK OF DEFIANCE

THE RAFT OF THE MEDUSA ADAPTS NOBLES' USE OF MYTHOLOGY TO GIVE HUMBLE SAILORS THE BODIES OF GODS

By Théodore Géricault in 1818-1819. He was 27.

# # #

Sailors on a raft in the high seas glimpse the ship that will save them:

Zoom

The very dark man highlights the hero's mixed blood to make him a symbol of all humanity (as the artist said explicitly):

Mankind on high seas is a symbol of human fragility, the outstretched hand recalls Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam and the light on the horizon means hope.

# # #

The true story

The king appoints as ship captain a man who has never been to sea, because he is a noble (in 1815).

When he wrecks the ship off Mauritanian reefs he has sailors build a raft and climb onto it, promising that officers in a lifeboat will pull them to shore. Then he has someone cut the rope:


Abandon of the Raft of the Médusa, 1837 / zoom

After 13 days at sea, only 15 of the original 150 are still alive. They have survived by eating the dead:

Sketch / zoom

# # #

Besides hijacking the nobles' code, the painting...

Attacks the king for giving a position of such responsibility to an inept and cruel crony.

Presents a Black who is not a subordinate for the first time since the 16th century, at the height of the slave trade.

Inaugurates Romantic art, which was often rebellious.

# # #

Until then, huge paintings had portrayed elites only. Raft was the first to honor ordinary men with a canvas that was as immense.

Placing it next to a giant work of propaganda emphasizes its dissent:

Napoleon at Eylau by Jean Gros, 1807-1808 / zoom

# # #

Raft remains the second most famous work made in France:

Performance announcement in a café of the 13th.

# # #

Fifty years later another rebel will say,

"We are all on the raft of the Medusa...

When humanity has turned all its forces
against the obstacles that hold it back,
it will ride through the storm."

-- Louise Michel: to be continued

For a work that is even more iconic,

please read on.

* * *

Next,
A goddess becomes a plebeian revolutionary

Monday, July 11, 2016

A GODDESS BECOMES A PLEBEIAN REVOLUTIONARY

LIBERTY GUIDES THE PEOPLE, THE MOST ICONIC WORK MADE IN FRANCE

By Eugène Delacroix, 1830-1831 / Julien Debure

Her clothes torn off and her breasts bare, the goddess wears the red cap of freed slaves of Antiquity and leads the fight for freedom:

Zoom

Her scandalous underarm makes her real and since almost all the fighting was done by the humble, she has to be underclass:

# # #

It honors the Revolution of 1830, but its symbolism is universal. The goddess...

Illustrates French history and Parisian insurrections...

French history summarized at Blois château

Mobilizes...

"Stop the degradation of our environment and protect our planet"

Inspires merch...

Is part of daily life...

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games referred to it and the painting is symbolic elsewhere:

Zoom

In Bethlehem

For the cover of an American magazine, please click.

The Mayor of the 13th district

had it adapted for his New Year greetings.

* * *

Next,
The goddess's descendants

Sunday, July 10, 2016

THE GODDESS'S DESCENDANTS

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION'S NEWLY RICH COPY THE

NOBLES' CODE

Politically and economically victorious but socially insecure, they model their culture on that of their defeated but prestigious adversaries. That adaptation adds...