Let’s start off with celestial glory, which is the name of this work by Michel Corneille… Originally a much larger version of this was in the ceiling of a church called Val-de-Grace. This beautiful picture by Camille Corot done in the 19th century is of Chartres Cathedral. This is the painting of the three graces– joy, elegance, and beauty, said to characterize the three daughters of Zeus. There are many paintings of ancient ruins, some real, some imagined. This one... Read more
Certainly one of my favorite paintings based the NT Apocrypha is Joseph and the boy Jesus in the carpenter’s shop, working by candlelight. The painter is Latour…. The problem with this painting is Joseph is too old, and Jesus is too feminine and too white as well. A little better is this busy painting of the raising of Lazarus.. another huge picture too big so again I did the close up… This painting of Jesus appearing to the three Marys,... Read more
The Louvre, besides being one of the world’s largest museums, now divided into three major parts, and expanding. It’s well to remember it was once a huge palace for the royalty. There is little trace of it, but here is one hint. There was a zillion people there waiting to get in, but Yuliya has a special pass, so we were lucky, but once inside the major items to see were swamped, so we focused on two, before ascending to... Read more
Yuliya wanted to show us this church for several reasons– firstly, she was baptized here, and secondly, it was ecumenical in character, being both Catholic and Orthodox, as the iconography will show. Interestingly, they don’t baptize infants! Weird. The Jerusalem Brotherhood was probably an offshoot of the Knights Templars, which King Louis of France tried to get rid of (see the novel reviewed earlier on this blog– Realm of Darkness). But this group of brethren who came from Jerusalem to... Read more
Man cannot live by art alone, and so we did some window shopping, and stop at a very famous gelateria and general dessert shop called Berthillion which was across the bridge over the Seine from the cathedrals we were visiting. The nearby coffee stand under the sycamore tree which also offered hot wine!! could not compete with the ice cream parlor… In Paris you are allowed to eat your glace, before the main meal… The gendarmes were watching… and probably... Read more
There is a French website of sacred sites, that says, there are 14 must see cathedrals and churches in Paris. Well, we didn’t have time for 14, but we did go to see St. Sulpice, an ornate baroque cathedral with an organ touted as the best in Europe. Sadly we didn’t get to hear it, but we certainly enjoyed slowly walking through this remarkable cathedral. It was built in the 17th century, and more recently got notoriety for being a... Read more
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll already know about the terrible fire that burned up much of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, 15th of April, 2019. The graphic images of the fire on every news report, including the horror of the Parisians who could only watch as the central tower collapsed, will long be imprinted on my mind. As Mr. Macron said, Notre Dame represents the very soul of France, and must be rebuilt at whatever cost. Here... Read more
There are not many Renoir paintings in this museum, but then there was a debate as to whether he should be grouped with the Impressionists anyway. But here are two of his more famous paintings… Another artist who is under-represented in Orsay is Paul Cezanne, which is a great pity as he was very skilled… Here’s a village scene Here is his self-portrait, looking a little peeved with himself. Here’s his painting entitled ‘The game of cards’... Read more
As I said earlier, Orsay is the go to place to see the Impressionists, so let’s dive in. The one rather well represented is Monet, and above is an interesting one of the lady with the parasol… and below, a lunch scene outside. Monet’s numerous paintings of the front of Rouen Cathedral in various lights, are certainly some of his most famous ones. As are the ones he painted at Giverny such as this one of the bridge over... Read more
Well let’s start with the sculptures in Orsay which are considerable. Orsay is a big modern building compared to where these works of art used to be housed. This is a statue of Eve, after she bit the apple, with regret written all over her face. The sculptor is Eugene Delaplanche. And another rendering of the same theme by the same artist. This is a statue of Virgil, the author of the Aeneid by Gabriel Thomas. As any good student... Read more
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