What to see in the Louvre: paintings and other masterpieces. Russian neighbors of the Gioconda: domestic exhibits in the Louvre

02.05.2019

The Louvre is a unique museum complex, one of the largest in the world. The exhibitions occupy 58,470 square meters, and the total area of the museum is 160,106 m². The history of the Louvre is eventful, dating back approximately 700 years. Initially it was a fortress, which was later converted into a royal palace.

The Louvre was founded in the 12th century by Philip Augustus (King of France). Since its founding, the Louvre has undergone numerous renovations and reconstructions. All the French kings, who did not even live permanently in the Louvre, tried to introduce something new into the appearance of the building.

For King Philip Augustus, the Louvre was a fortress, the main task of which was to protect the western approaches to Paris, so the Louvre was a powerful structure with a central tower.

During the reign of Charles V, the fortress was turned into a royal residence. It was this king who initiated the reconstruction of the fortress into a building that would be suitable for the king’s stay. The idea was implemented by the architect Raymond de Temple, who also took care of the reliable protection of the king, surrounding the building with powerful fortress walls.

Around the end of the 18th century, all work on the construction of the Louvre was successfully completed.

The museum received its first visitors in November 1793. At first, the main source of replenishment of the Louvre funds were the royal collections collected by Francis I, Louis XIV. At the time of the museum’s founding, the collection already included 2,500 paintings.

Today, the Louvre houses 350,000 exhibits, some of which are kept in storage.

Working hours:
Monday - 9:00-17:30
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - 9:00-21:30
Thursday - 9:00-17:30
Friday - 9:00-21:30
Saturday - 9:00-17:30
Sunday - 9:00-17:30

Official website of the museum: louvre.fr

Most Parisians consider the Louvre to be their top attraction. But the glass pyramid is the work of an American architect Chinese origin Yeo Ming Peo, according to townspeople, does not really fit in with a Renaissance-style palace. This building has the same parameters as egyptian pyramid Cheops. Creates a feeling of space and light, and also acts as the main entrance to the museum.

Story

Historically, the architecture of the Louvre has always combined many styles. This was started by King Philip Augustus, who built a defensive fortress on the western border side of Paris in the 12th century. For one thing, it served as a repository for the royal archives and treasury.

Further, under King Charles the Fifth, it was transformed into royal apartments. Architects of the Renaissance period rebuilt the palace ensemble, trying to fulfill a virtually impossible goal - to satisfy the tastes of two kings: Francis the First and Henry the Fourth, whose statue now stands on the New Bridge. The main part of the fortress wall was destroyed and a huge gallery was built, which connected the Louvre with the Tuileries Palace, which still existed at that time.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Henry the Fourth, who had great sympathy for art, invited artists to live in the palace. He promised them spacious halls for workshops, homes and the rank of palace painters.

Louis XIV practically put an end to the prestige of the Louvre as the residence of kings. He moved to Versailles, along with the entire court, and artists, sculptors and architects settled in the Louvre. Among them were Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Guillaume Coustou. It was then that the Louvre fell into such disrepair that plans began to be made for its demolition.

Upon completion French Revolution The Louvre became known as Central Museum arts At the same time, Napoleon the Third will bring into reality what Henry the Fourth dreamed of - the Richelieu wing was added to the Louvre. It became a mirror image of the Haut-Bor-de-l'Eau gallery. But the Louvre did not become symmetrical for long - during the Paris Commune, the Tuileries Palace burned down, and along with it a large part of the Louvre.

Collection

Today, the Louvre has more than 350 thousand works of art, and approximately 1,600 employees who organize the functioning of the museum. The collection is located in three wings of the building: the Richelieu wing is located along the Rue de Rivoli; The Denon wing runs parallel to the Seine and a square courtyard surrounds the Sully wing.

Ancient East and Islam. Objects are displayed in the halls ancient art regions from the Persian Gulf to the Bosphorus, in particular Mesopotamia, the countries of the Levant and Persia.

The Louvre's collection includes more than 55,000 pieces of ancient Egyptian art. The exhibition demonstrates the results of the crafts of the ancient Egyptians - stuffed animals, papyri, sculptures, talismans, paintings and mummies.

Art Ancient Greece, Etruscans and Ancient Rome. These are the fruits of creative searches in recreating a person and a special vision of beauty. Actually, it is these halls that present the main sculptural treasures of the Louvre - those that museum visitors usually want to see first. These are statues of Apollo and the Venus de Milo, dating back to the hundredth year BC, as well as the statue of the Nike of Samothrace, which was found in the form of 300 fragments a thousand years after its creation.

Arts and crafts are displayed on the second floor. You will see all kinds of objects: the throne of Napoleon the First and unique tapestries, miniatures, porcelain and jewelry, fine bronze and even royal crowns.

The ground and first floors of the Richelieu wing and the Denon wing are occupied by an extensive collection of works of French sculpture, as well as a small number of exhibits from Italy, Holland, Germany, and Spain. Among them are two works by the great Michelangelo, which are called “The Slave”.

The Louvre houses one of the world's most extensive collections of paintings, and naturally, the French school is represented in the museum most comprehensively.

Gioconda

The main work that tourists primarily want to see is the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) by Leonardo da Vinci. This painting is located in the Denon wing, in a separate small room - the Salle des Etas, which can only be accessed from the Grand Gallery.

This room was built quite recently, specifically to make it convenient for tourists to view the most recognizable painting in the world without bumping into each other, although it is kept behind two layers of glass.

The painting was painted over 500 years ago and was da Vinci's favorite work. There is an opinion that Leonardo painted a self-portrait in women's clothing, and it combines two principles - yin and yang. If you look into Mona Lisa's eyes, the chin appears in the distant zone of vision, which gives the impression of an elusive smile. And if you look at the lips, the smile disappears and this is where its mystery lies.

Despite its greatness, La Gioconda itself is even smaller in size than its reproductions in the souvenir shops of the Louvre.

For King Philip Augustus, the Louvre was a fortress, the main task of which was to protect the western approaches to Paris, so the Louvre was a powerful structure with a central tower.

Around the end of the 18th century, all work on the construction of the Louvre was successfully completed.

The museum received its first visitors in November 1793. At first, the main source of replenishment of the Louvre's funds were the royal collections collected by Francis I and Louis XIV. At the time of the museum’s founding, the collection already included 2,500 paintings.

Today, the Louvre houses 350,000 exhibits, some of which are kept in storage.

Working hours:
Monday - 9:00-17:30
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - 9:00-21:30
Thursday - 9:00-17:30
Friday - 9:00-21:30
Saturday - 9:00-17:30
Sunday - 9:00-17:30

Official website of the museum: louvre.fr

Most Parisians consider the Louvre to be their top attraction. But the glass pyramid, designed by Chinese-American architect Yeo Ming Peo, according to townspeople, does not really fit in with the Renaissance-style palace. This structure has the same parameters as the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. Creates a feeling of space and light, and also acts as the main entrance to the museum.

Story

At the end of the French Revolution, the Louvre became known as the Central Museum of Art. At the same time, Napoleon the Third will bring into reality what Henry the Fourth dreamed of - the Richelieu wing was added to the Louvre. It became a mirror image of the Haut-Bor-de-l'Eau gallery. But the Louvre did not become symmetrical for long - during the Paris Commune, the Tuileries Palace burned down, and along with it a large part of the Louvre.

Collection

Ancient East and Islam. The halls display objects of ancient art from the regions from the Persian Gulf to the Bosphorus, in particular Mesopotamia, the countries of the Levant and Persia.

Art of Ancient Greece, Etruscans and Ancient Rome. These are the fruits of creative searches in recreating a person and a special vision of beauty. Actually, it is these halls that present the main sculptural treasures of the Louvre - those that museum visitors usually want to see first. These are statues of Apollo and the Venus de Milo, dating back to the hundredth year BC, as well as the statue of the Nike of Samothrace, which was found in the form of 300 fragments a thousand years after its creation.

The Louvre houses one of the world's most extensive collections of paintings, and naturally, the French school is represented in the museum most comprehensively.

Gioconda

Despite its greatness, La Gioconda itself is even smaller in size than its reproductions in the souvenir shops of the Louvre.

Publications in the Museums section

Russian neighbors of Gioconda: domestic exhibits in the Louvre

In one of largest museums of the world, of course, must be found Russian works. Who received this honor and how did it happen?

Medieval treasure

Shoulders of Andrei Bogolyubsky. OK. 1170–1180s

A treasure of the 12th century is the shoulder pad of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, also known as the armilla of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. This gilded bracelet, which was worn in an unusual place for us - on the shoulder, is decorated with masterly enamel with a scene of the Resurrection of Christ. The decoration, according to legend, was sent by the emperor to our prince as a gift. Later it was kept in the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, and after the revolution it was sold abroad by the Bolsheviks, and for pennies. In 1934, the Society of Friends of the Louvre purchased it from a Parisian antique dealer and donated it to the museum. A pair of shoulder pads with the image of the Crucifixion ended up in Nuremberg in a similar way.

The oldest icon

Crucifixion. Early 16th century

The Louvre cannot boast of very ancient Russian icons in its collection: the oldest dates back to the beginning of the 16th century. This “Crucifixion” was created in Novgorod, further fate It was not clear until it ended up in the collection of a Norwegian trade advisor in 1927, who apparently took advantage of a sale of church property. Thirty years later, the Louvre purchased the icon, as well as the large “Our Lady Hodegetria,” from him.

Antique Shop Hermit

Simeon the Stylite. 16th century

Another 16th-century icon in the halls of the Louvre is “Simeon the Stylite.” She left Russia in the luggage of the merchant Lev Grinberg, who would later become Leon and head the famous antique gallery A La Vieille Russie, which still exists today. (By the way, it was Greenberg who once bought six Faberge eggs from a Parisian jeweler, which later ended up in the Forbes-Vekselberg collection. Thanks to his enterprise, they were not scattered around the world, and this collection is second only to the Kremlin.) “Simeon the Stylite” in 1956 Greenberg presented it as a gift to the Louvre, the museum also remained grateful - in the same year it bought an icon from him “ Last Judgment» XVII century.

Drifter of the Trinity

Our Lady of the Leaping of the Child. 16th century

The 16th-century Our Lady of the Leaping of the Child, in which Christ so tenderly presses his mother's cheek, is another icon forced into exile thanks to Soviet sales. And before that, her abode was very honorable - the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius! In 1933, it was bought by the permanent representative of the Red Cross in Russia, the Swiss Waldemar Verlaine - just like that, simply by going to Torgsin. The museum bought it in 1955.

Diderot's girlfriend

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Maria Naryshkina. 1773–1774

The path to the Louvre for non-religious works is more varied. For example, the portrait by Dmitry Levitsky depicts Princess Maria Naryshkina, in whose St. Petersburg house Denis Diderot lived during his visit to Russia. She probably gave the guest the painting as a souvenir. Powdered in the latest fashion, the aristocrat is dressed in a curious outer dress in the Polish or Hungarian style, with cords and a hood trimmed with fur. The portrait was painted in 1773–1774 - just then, after the First Partition of Poland in 1772, there was a surge of interest in this style in fashion.

For many years the painting belonged to Diderot's heirs until it fell into the hands of the artist, composer and collector Jacques Zubaloff, a Parisian and Tiflis native, from whose collection it was transferred to the Louvre in 1916. In the past, Yakov Konstantinovich Zubalov, he was a representative of the famous Armenian dynasty of oil industrialists, a philanthropist and philanthropist (there is a Zubalov Hall in the Parisian Petit Palais, and a marble plaque with his name hangs in the Louvre). In his old age he became so poor that both of these museums even gave their former benefactor financial assistance.

Ambassador's nieces with a pug

Vladimir Borovikovsky. Sisters Elena and Alexandra Alekseevna Kurakina. 1808–1812

The young ladies from the portrait of Vladimir Borovikovsky from 1808–1812 are the nieces of the Russian ambassador in Paris Alexander Kurakin (a possible prototype of Prince Kuragin in War and Peace). Princesses Elena and Alexandra, of course, are not as beautiful as Ellen Bezukhova, but they are also surrounded by a trail of stories. For example, Alexandra, being married to Nikolai Saltykov, fell in love with Colonel Pyotr Chicherin, who took her away from her husband and married her, although she never received a divorce. Their children, of course, were considered illegitimate, and an imperial decree was required to give them the rights of legitimate children (and it was issued only after Alexandra’s death). The girls in the portrait are accompanied by a pug - in late XVIII century, an extremely fashionable living accessory (“I see a pug in every carriage that comes my way,” wrote a contemporary in 1789).

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the painting was preserved in the Kurakin family, and then it ended up in the collection of the banker Abram the Good (the same one whose abduction in 1918 led to the dispersal of the Central Rada by German occupation forces). He died in 1936, and in 1958 the Leon Baratz couple donated several works to the Louvre in memory of him and his wife.

To visit Paris and not visit the Louvre is simply a crime. Any tourist will tell you this. But if you haven’t prepared in advance, you risk getting lost among the crowd of people with cameras, tablets and smartphones and missing out on the most important thing for which the whole world is rushing to the largest Parisian museum. The Louvre is huge and beautiful. You won’t be able to enjoy all of its exhibits even in one day - there are more than 300,000 of them. In order not to get an aesthetic shock from an oversaturation of beautiful things, you have to make a choice...
"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci

"La Gioconda" by Leonardo da Vinci - main exhibit Louvre. All museum signs lead to this painting. Huge number People come to the Louvre every day to look at the bewitching smile of the Mona Lisa with their own eyes. You can’t see it anywhere except the Louvre. Due to the poor condition of the painting, the museum's management announced that it would no longer be exhibited.

The degree of protection of the painting is unprecedented.

The Mona Lisa may not have been so popular and world famous if it had not been stolen by a Louvre employee in 1911. The painting was found only 2 years later, when a thief tried to sell it in Italy. All this time, while the investigation was ongoing, the “Mona Lisa” did not leave the covers of newspapers and magazines around the world, becoming an object of copying and worship.

Today, the Mona Lisa is hidden behind bulletproof glass, with barriers holding back the crowd of tourists. Interest in one of the most famous and mysterious works painting in the world does not fade away.

Reverse side of the painting. It is impossible to see it, and that is why gossip is constantly circulating in the media about some secret message from the artist to the world and humanity, allegedly written on the back of the Mona Lisa.

Probably everyone knows this, but just in case. This painting is called both “Mona Lisa” and “La Gioconda”. Why? Mona Lisa is short for Madonna Lisa. Gioconda - because the woman's last name was Giocondo. This twenty-four-year-old woman was the third wife of a Florentine rich man named Francesco di Bartolomee del Giocondo.

Venus de Milo

The second star of the Louvre is the white marble statue of the goddess of love Aphrodite. The famous ancient ideal of beauty, created 120 years BC. e. The goddess's height is 164 cm, proportions are 86x69x93.

According to one version, the goddess’s hands were lost during a conflict between the French, who wanted to take her to their country, and the Turks, the owners of the island where she was discovered. Experts claim that the hands of the statue were broken off long before its discovery. However local residents The islands of the Aegean Sea believe in another beautiful legend.

One famous sculptor I was looking for a model to create a statue of the goddess Venus. He heard a rumor about a woman of extraordinary beauty from the island of Milos. The artist rushed there, found the beauty and fell madly in love with her. Having received consent, he set to work.

On the day when the masterpiece was almost ready, unable to contain their passion any longer, the sculptor and the model threw themselves into each other’s arms. The girl pressed the sculptor so tightly to her chest that he suffocated and died. But the sculpture was left without both hands.

"The Raft of the Medusa" Theodore Gericault

Today, the painting by Theodore Gericault is one of the pearls of the museum. Although after the artist’s death in 1824, representatives of the Louvre were not ready to pay a decent amount for it, and the painting was purchased at auction by a close friend of the artist.

During the author’s lifetime, the canvas caused outrage and indignation: how dared the artist to use such a large format not for the heroic or religious plot accepted in those days, but to depict a real event.

The plot of the film is based on an incident that happened on July 2, 1816 off the coast of Senegal. The frigate "Medusa" crashed, and 140 people tried to escape on a raft. Only 15 of them survived and 12 days later they were picked up by the brig Argus. The details of the survivors' voyage - murders, cannibalism - shocked society and turned into a scandal.

Géricault combined hope and despair, the living and the dead, in one picture. Before depicting the latter, the artist made numerous sketches of dying people in hospitals and the corpses of executed people. “The Raft of the Medusa” was the last of Gericault’s completed works.

Nike of Samothrace

Another pride of the museum is the marble sculpture of the goddess of victory. Researchers believe that an unknown sculptor created Nike in the 2nd century BC as a sign of Greek naval victories.

The sculpture is missing its head and arms, and the right wing is a reconstruction, a plaster copy of the left wing. They tried repeatedly to restore the hands of the statue, but to no avail - they all spoiled the masterpiece. The statue was losing the feeling of flight and swiftness, an unstoppable rush forward.

Initially, Nika stood on a steep cliff above the sea, and her pedestal depicted a nose warship. Today the statue is located on the second floor of the Louvre on the Daru staircase of the Denon gallery and is visible from afar.

"The Coronation of Napoleon" Jacques Louis David

Art lovers go to the Louvre to see monumental paintings live French artist Jacques Louis David's "Oath of the Horatii", "The Death of Marat" and a grandiose canvas depicting the coronation of Napoleon.

The full title of the painting is “Dedication of Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of Empress Josephine in the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris December 2, 1804." David chose the moment when Napoleon crowns Josephine and Pope Pius VII gives him his blessing.

The painting was created by order of Napoleon I himself, who wanted everything to look better on it than it actually was. Therefore, he asked David to depict his mother, who was not at the coronation, in the very center of the picture, to make himself a little taller, and Josephine a little younger.

"Cupid and Psyche" by Antonio Canova

There are two versions of the sculpture. The Louvre houses the first version, donated to the museum in 1800 by the husband of Napoleon's sister, Joachim Murat. The second, later version is in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. It was presented to the museum by Prince Yusupov, who acquired the masterpiece in Rome in 1796.

The sculpture depicts the god Cupid at the moment of Psyche's awakening from his kiss. In the Louvre catalogue, the sculptural group is called “Psyche Awakened by Cupid’s Kiss.” Italian sculptor Antonio Canova was inspired to create this masterpiece ancient greek myths about the god of love Cupid and Psyche, whom the Greeks considered the personification of the human soul.

This masterpiece of sensuality in marble is undoubtedly worth appreciating in person.

"The Great Odalisque" by Jean Ingres

Ingres wrote "The Great Odalisque" for Napoleon's sister Caroline Murat. But the painting was never accepted by the customer.

Today it is one of the most valuable exhibits of the Louvre, despite obvious anatomical errors. The odalisque has three extra vertebrae, right hand incredibly long and left leg twisted at an impossible angle. When the painting appeared at the salon in 1819, one critic wrote that in “Odalisque” there are “no bones, no muscles, no blood, no life, no relief.”

Ingres always, without hesitation or regret, exaggerated the features of his models in order to emphasize expressiveness and artistic value paintings. And today this does not bother anyone. "Great Odalisque" is considered the most famous and significant work masters

"Slaves" by Michelangelo

Among the most valuable exhibits of the Louvre are two sculptures by Michelangelo: the famous “Rising Slave” and “Dying Slave”. They were created between 1513 and 1519 for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but were never included in final version tombs.

According to the sculptor's idea, there should have been six statues in total. But Michelangelo did not finish work on four of them. Today they are in the Accademia Gallery in Florence.

The two completed Louvre statues contrast a strong young man trying to break his bonds with another young man hanging helplessly in them. Michelangelo's defeated, bound, dying people, however, are, as always, amazingly beautiful and strong.

Statue of seated Ramses II

The Louvre has one of the world's richest collections of Egyptian antiquities. A masterpiece of ancient Egyptian culture that you must definitely see with your own eyes is the statue of the famous Pharaoh Ramses II.

Once in the hall of Egyptian antiquities, do not miss the statue of a seated scribe with a surprisingly lively expression on his face.

"The Lacemaker" by Johannes Vermeer

Vermeer's paintings are interesting because in them researchers find evidence that great artists, starting from the Renaissance, used optics to paint their realistic paintings.

In particular, when creating The Lacemaker, Vermeer allegedly used a camera obscura. In the picture you can see many optical effects used in photography, for example: a blurred foreground.

In the Louvre you can also see Vermeer's painting "The Astronomer". It depicts the artist's friend and posthumous steward Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a scientist and microbiologist, unique master, who created his own microscopes and lenses. Apparently, he supplied Vermeer with optics, with which the artist painted his masterpieces.

Relatively recently, in the mid-80s of the 20th century, when grandiose restoration work was taking place in the famous Parisian museum, archaeologists found the remains of a powerful wall and a defensive ditch under its buildings beginning of XIII V. These were fragments of a well-fortified castle.

They have been carefully restored, and now, going down to the lower floor, visitors see with their own eyes part of ancient wall. Thus, it also became one of the museum exhibits. And how the Louvre has changed and been rebuilt over the centuries can be judged by the models showing what it was like in different periods.

The Louvre Castle began to be built in 1200 by the King of France, Philip II Augustus, who wanted to strengthen the right bank of the Seine. Philip II himself lived on the Isle of Cité, which at that time contained almost all of Paris. When the castle was erected, the king moved to its main tower - donjon- royal treasury and archives. High walls and deep defensive ditches provided them with reliable protection.

Only in the 2nd half of the 14th century. another French king - Charles V landscaped the Louvre Castle and moved his residence here. Ancient chronicles call this king the Wise, and for good reason: he loved society learned people, and in one of the towers of the Louvre he collected large library their personal handwritten books.

However, after Charles V, the Louvre ceased to be a royal house for a long time. And kings did not always live in Paris itself. France fought a long, grueling war with England, called the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), and the capital of France was occupied by English troops. The main residence of the French kings was the Loire River valley.

In the 16th century In France, following Italy, the Renaissance began. Therefore, the ancient knightly castles, which had long been built along the banks of the Loire and its tributaries, were rebuilt - from gloomy fortresses they turned into elegant, well-appointed palaces. New castle palaces also appeared, for example Chambord, built by Francis I. The royal court led nomadic life, moving from one castle to another.

King Francis I was destined to play a significant role in the history of museum affairs. During his reign (1515-1547), France fought a long war with Italy. The king won the famous battle at Marignano and occupied Milan. It was then that he was fascinated by painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance and began to invite the best to France Italian masters. There was also a great one among them Leonardo da Vinci, who spent two years in one of the castles on the Loire last year life and bequeathed his painting “La Gioconda” to King Francis.

In addition to her, there were 38 more paintings in Francis’s collection, and among them another work - “Madonna in the Grotto” and paintings by Titian, Andrea del Sarto...

At the end of his reign, Francis I decided to once again move his residence to Paris. But the gloomy Louvre castle was not very suitable for a monarch imbued with the refined spirit of the Renaissance. Therefore, the architect Pierre Lesko demolished almost all the towers and walls and erected a palace in their place in the spirit of Italian architecture.

Museum opening hours

On Monday, Thursday and Saturday the museum is open from 09.00 to 18.00. Wednesday and Friday from 09.00 to 22.00. The Louvre is closed 3 times a year: January 1, May 1, December 25.

Ticket prices

About 15 dollars. Those under 25 years old have free admission.