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Versailles Gossip- Empire Style Portrait (the Portrait of Madam Senonnes)
- A Cat Chasing a Butterfly
- The Emperor’s Barge
- Marie-Antoinette (a text of Jean Cocteau translated by Vadim Bystritski)
- Indifferent (a text of Paul Claudel translated by Vadim Bystritski)
- Napoleon II and the Cinco de Mayo
- Le Gros’ Portrait of Napoleon’s Aid-de-Camp
- Style Empire in Painting
- Falling in Style
- A Swede in the XVIII Century Paris.
Category Archives: Louvre
Napoleon II and the Cinco de Mayo
Pierre-Paul Prud’hon’s painting The Sleeping King of Rome can be seen at Louvre-Lance. That is where I saw it six or seven years ago. The painting was originally presented at the Salon in 1811. As the official drawing instructor of … Continue reading
Posted in Louvre, Napoleon, Uncategorized
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A Swede in the XVIII Century Paris.
Many of my American friends feel claustrophobic in Parisian hotels — it’s too tight, too hot. They completely miss the idea of boudoir! It has to be tight, it has to be hot, especially when outside it it is not. … Continue reading
Posted in Louvre
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The Emperor, His Crown and Scepter
The Louvre has these items — the crown and the scepter of Napoleon. That’s the way he wanted them — crude, primitive, archaic to reflect his understanding of the tradition. The hand of justice was copied off an old gravure … Continue reading
Posted in Louvre, Napoleon
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A Picture for the Frame
If Van Loo is the court painter of Louis XV, then Boucher is the court painter of Pompadour. Only he is not a court painter, for there is not a single Boucher portrait at Versailles. This is why we recognize … Continue reading
Posted in Court, Courtiers, Louis XV, Louvre, Madame Pompadour, Versailles
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Parergon
These days you can see at the Louvre the portrait of Lady Alston by Thomas Gainsborough. Well, I did. A disturbing experience! Because of the heavy gilded shells that surround the canvas. They distracted me: Versailles is stamped all over … Continue reading
Posted in Courtiers, Louvre, Madam Pompadour, Versailles
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Louis XIV at the Haunted Palace
I’ve talked a little about ghosts and a lot about perfumes; but I have never mentioned how closely the two happen to be related: it goes back to 1654 and even earlier, so this is a Paris-Versailles, or rather Louvre-Versailles … Continue reading
Posted in Chateau Versailles, Louis XIV, Louvre, Versailles Fashions
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Still Life Anonymous
This anonymous XVII century still life can be seen in the Louvre collection of French paintings, right before Georges de La Tour. At first the picture passes for a familiar allegorical representation of our five senses: sight — book, hearing … Continue reading
Posted in Louvre
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Water and Moral Rectitude in XVIII Century Painting
By mid 1700’s water is back with vengeance; and in the late XVIII century its use does not only concern itself with hygiene, but quickly gains the grounds in the social and political discourse: it is not just a bath … Continue reading
A Horse, a H….
This equestrian statue of Louis XV used to decorate la Place Louis XV — what today is known as la Place de la Concorde. The statue fell one of the first victims of the French Revolution. The small replica I … Continue reading
Posted in Chateau Versailles, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louvre
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David to Marat
There are two opinions about copying. The first one sees all copies as inferior to the original; the second admits that a copy may be an improvement, or an inspiration for another original work. A good example there would be … Continue reading
Posted in French Revolution, Louvre
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Versailles Gossip 