A Few Treasures From the Louvre

My husband and I spent about four hours at the Louvre last week mostly looking at all the paintings and sculpture. I don't think I missed one painting gallery and by the time we left, I was in a state of confusion. I could barely remember what I had seen in the first galleries and I guess that's what happens when you try to take in too much at one time. Here are just a few of the pieces that captivated me. Above is Winged Victory by an unknown sculpture from approximately 190 BC. It is an amazing piece of work to behold, the gracefulness of the pose and the perfect lines of the body and drapery and created so many centuries ago.
I had to include a photo of the Mona Lisa which is very small (30x21") and behind glass. It is also very dark, much darker than reproductions I've seen on the internet. Good luck getting close enough to view it, we had to push and bump through the crowd in order to try to see the painting up close.
I've always liked Guiseppe Archimboldo's work and was happy to be able to view The Seasons up close. The subjects in his paintings are comprised of vegetables, plants and fruits and very intricate and I like intricate.
Here is Ingres Grand Odalisque which is a lovely and large painting but criticized because the figure does not appear to have muscles or bones. Many of her proportions are incorrect; right arm longer than the left arm and she has extra vertebrae. Yet she hangs in the Louvre and is famous just the same. Next time I'm working on a figure drawing and my proportions aren't quite right ... I won't feel so bad!
Lastly, here is a snow scene by Monet. It's one of his earlier paintings Snow Near Honfleur
and I don't believe I've ever seen this one before. My camera gave this painting a pinkish glow but what I really like about this piece are the many subtle colorful grays in the scene.

I'm going to post a few more images tomorrow from other museums.