{"id":3274,"date":"2013-04-21T17:05:03","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T16:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=3274"},"modified":"2013-04-21T17:05:03","modified_gmt":"2013-04-21T16:05:03","slug":"sorry-leonardo-but-mona-just-isnt-my-bff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/history\/sorry-leonardo-but-mona-just-isnt-my-bff\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorry Leonardo \u2013 but Mona just isn\u2019t my BFF\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The main courtyard with one of the small side pyramids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This week, I spent a lovely evening at the Louvre in Paris.<\/p>\n

Spring in Paris is tourist season. (Let\u2019s face it, every season in Paris is tourist season) Despite this, the midweek late evening opening was not as crowded as other times.<\/p>\n

And yes \u2013 this is another one of those blogs with many , many photos!<\/p>\n

Love it or hate it \u2013 you have to start at the glass pyramid.<\/p>\n

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Looking up at the evening sky through the point of the pyramid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The pyramid was very controversial when it was built in the late 1980\u2019s. Even walking through the courtyard, you can hear how divisive it still is. \u00a0More than one visitor was overheard to say they hated it \u2013 in more than one language.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t hate it. I really like it. It provides a modern and efficient way of getting 15,000 visitors a day in and out of the building..\u00a0 but more than that \u2013 I think it\u2019s quite beautiful, especially on a clear spring even when people are milling around enjoying the weather and the beauty of the lights on the reflecting pools.<\/p>\n

I think to have built a structure there that copied the style of the buildings around it would have been a mistake… why put a fake in the midst of this real architectural wonder?<\/p>\n

And speaking of masterpieces \u2013 there\u2019s THAT painting.<\/p>\n

The room containing the Mona Lisa (or La Joconde as the French call her) is the most visited room in what claims to be the most visited museum in the world. I guess that\u2019s fitting for the most famous painting on the planet\u2026<\/p>\n

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One room which is always crowded<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But\u2026 It didn\u2019t do it for me.<\/p>\n

Maybe it would be different if you didn\u2019t have to fight through the crowds, or stand in a roped off area. Maybe if she wasn\u2019t behind protective glass (which appeared to be tinted to keep light levels low).. But\u2026 no\u2026 sorry. Not my favourite painting in the world. Not even in that museum.<\/p>\n

Maybe she\u2019s been overexposed, in too many bad reproductions. But I found her bland. Pleasant enough, but not really outstanding. (Maybe that just proves I know nothing about art.)<\/p>\n

The guides were talking about all the rules Leonardo broke, the new things he pioneered in the painting. But for me \u2013 it\u2019s about what I enjoy looking at. What I think is beautiful. Sorry Leo, she\u2019s not your best work.<\/p>\n

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The weeping statue has far more passion than Miss Lisa...<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Having said that \u2013 the museum is full or amazing stuff\u2026 and many of it’s most beautiful and fascinating pieces are not the most famous ones.<\/p>\n

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She seemed almost alive - despite the missing arms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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However, the Venus de Milo is one famous treasure that does not disappoint \u2013 (webmaster John \u00a0thinks she has a cute behind\u2026 hmm).<\/p>\n

My favourite room houses a collection of Assyrian treasures\u2026<\/p>\n

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I wanted to touch him - but didn't think the museum guard or the lion himself would appreciate it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legend claims Napoleon shot off the nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza with a cannon… This is the largest sphinx outside Egypt… what it it with the French and the Sphinx’s nose?<\/p>\n

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Even without the nose - he's very handsome.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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I don't think this would work with my jeans and t-shirt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Speaking of gorgeous \u2013 there are still some traces of French royal splendour\u2026<\/p>\n

And\u2026<\/p>\n

Well the list goes on.<\/p>\n

I spent more than four hours in the museum and did not see everything. Not even close to everything.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more to explore that just the collection \u2026 there\u2019s the building itself.<\/p>\n

I loved the crypt \u00a0\u2013 walking through the excavated foundations of the medieval fortress that occupied this site long before it was a museum \u2013 or even a palace.<\/p>\n

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Getting right back to the start of everything<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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It was so easy to get\u00a0 lost in the history of the place.<\/p>\n

And that, I think, is what makes the Louvre so special.<\/p>\n

Not just it\u2019s collection\u00a0 – which is, by any standards, quite staggering \u2013 but the building itself. It\u2019s so easy to image Catherine De Medici sweeping down the magnificent staircases.<\/p>\n

I can see the Emperor Napoleon seated at the state dining table \u2013 drinking wine and talking of his conquests, rather than frozen in some painting on the walls.<\/p>\n

The Palace became a museum in 1789. But being a museum is more than just housing art and artifacts. It\u2019s about history. Preserving it and bringing it to life.<\/p>\n

You could strip the Louvre of all its fabulous \u00a0contents \u2013 and it would, to me at least \u2013 still be one of the world\u2019s great museums.<\/p>\n

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There should be a Queen walking down these stairs - not a staff member smoking a cigarette.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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An intimate dinner for 40 of an Emperor's closest friends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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  This week, I spent a lovely evening at the Louvre in Paris. Spring in Paris is tourist season. (Let\u2019s face it, every season in Paris is tourist season) Despite this, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-my-travels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnhocking.net\/jg2025demo1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}