From inside the Louvre Museum, looking out
The Louvre Museum offers tourists the quintessential Parisian experience. Built in the 12th century and having been the home to King Louis XIV, there are many years of history and Parisian pride that can be traced in the walls of one of the world's most famous museums. In addition to housing some of the most renowned paintings and sculptures, the Louvre itself (its buildings and architecture) offers glimpses of art and context about French life.
I was enthralled as I walked through the Louvre, not only with the artwork, but with the building structures. Inside each room I entered were moldings outlined in gold, preserved and seemingly untouched. And surprisingly, unnoticed.
I understand that people come to the Louvre Museum to see their favorite works of art in person, and sometimes even just to say they have been there. Others "bee line" straight to the Mona Lisa, although many of them probably leave feeling less than inspired after reaching over other cameras and dodging other people's pictures to see the smaller-than-expected painting.
Few, however, look up. Just one small glance in any number of the rooms I visited would reveal the beauty that is the Louvre. I was especially captured when I walked towards the Pavillon Mollien, which leads to the Italian sculptures. It was after looking up, however, that I had to stop and stare.
The ceiling of Pavillon Mollien is adorned with a painting titled, "Glory Crowning the Arts", by Charles- Louis Müller. There are sculptures placed in the corners representing "Painting by Ernest Hiolle, Sculpture by Duchoisel, Architecture by Justin Chrysostome Sanson and Engraving by Louis-Charles Janson" (Musée de Louvre). These creations were a part of Napoleon III's "Nouveau Louvre" plan and were completed in 1914, 57 years after the Pavillon Mollien building was completed on August 14, 1857.
Inside Pavillon Mollien
"Glory Crowning the Arts", by Charles- Louis Müller
Perhaps I am drawn to these details within the buildings because of my love for design and adornment. Contemporary interior design reuses and translates these immaculately executed and intricately detailed pieces of art into smaller scale additions to homes and businesses. We see crown moldings all around in home design, but never to this extent and beauty, so it is something to appreciate.
Other building additions have been equally recognized for their symbolism, if not always for their beauty. For example, in 1989, the 3 glass pyramids by architect, I.M. Pei were introduced as a hub for visitors of the museum. Now an instantly recognizable aspect of the Louvre, the pyramids were initially met with distaste and discontent from the Parisians who felt that the architecture did not create a cohesive look with the rest of the museum. As Paul Goldberger said in his article for The New York Times just days before the inauguration of the new pyramids, "the pyramid was at first bitterly denounced by many prominent people in the arts, who viewed it as an unwelcome intrusion of harsh modernism into the sacred precincts of Paris."
Looking out from within I.M Pei's triangle
Alas, it seems Parisians have been more welcoming the second time around, as the Islamic Galleries became the newest addition to the museum in 2012. Designed by Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti and described as "a scarf floating within the space," the wing holds over 17,000 works of art spanning 17 centuries and numerous civilizations.
Clearly, art is not limited to the walls and inside glass frameworks at the Louvre Museum. The buildings, with their vast architecture and incredible histories, are just as beautiful, memorable and important.