Musee du Louvre (Paris, France)

The Louvre museum is one of the places in Paris that you almost have to visit even if you’re not a huge art fan. It is home to some of the most famous works of art in the world such as the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Liberty Leading the People and many others. The Louvre museum itself is an amazing work of art with all the standing sculptures that wrapped around the outside of the building. The museum was once a royal palace for two centuries then eventually became the museum it is now, thanks to the great art collections of kings such as Louise XIII and Louise XIV. The French army captured many art pieces from the land they conquered making it the vast collection it is today. The collection is so great that there is no way that one could see all the works of art held there, but out of the art that I did see I had two paintings that I really enjoyed.           

            The first artist’s name is Jean August Dominique Ingres who was born in France in 1780. As a young boy he learned to draw, and later attended a close school that was closed in the middle of his studies due to the French Revolution. He resumed his art studies and studied sculpture and landscape painting classes. He was a neoclassical painter, which was the revival of classical styles in art during the 18the Century, which formed in a response against Rococo art. He was most recognized for his skill of painting and sketching portraits of people. The painting of his that I saw was called Roger Delivrant Angelique, which was of a man on a winged creature rescuing a girl stranded on a rock. The way he painted was very smooth and buttery, and the gold color in this painting really captured my attention against the dark background. I really like the high contrast of the painting because it makes the figures stand out and almost look like they are glowing.

            The second painting was by a French artist named Paul Delaroche. He was self-driven to become a great artist and enrolled in an art school. He was known for painting scenes based off of stories of the English kings and queens. He was admired for his unique new style of a historical genre, which was similar to the Romantic period. The painting that I liked of his was called The Young Martyr. It was of a young Christian Martyr who was drown and started to float in the water with a glowing halo over her. The colors of this painting are so pigmented and rich. I really liked how you could see her dress half above and under the water and how it changes from white to a murky turquoise. Even though this painting depicts death its still so soft and elegant in the way her head rolls to the side with the curves of her floating dress.

Roger Delivrant Angelique by Jean August Dominique Ingres, 1819

The Young Martyr by Paul Delaroche, 1855