European Travel Diary 18: Romantic Paris, Palace of All Treasures, Louvre
2023-05-16
Located on north bank of Seine in central Paris, France, Louvre ranks first among four largest museums in world. It was first built in 1204 and it took about 600 years of construction, renovation and expansion to get it to its present form.
Fifty French kings and queens lived in palace, and it is one of most valuable buildings of French classic period.
After becoming a museum, Louvre has become a world-famous palace of art. One of largest artistic treasures is Palace of All Treasures, which has attracted attention of whole world. It is famous for its rich collection of classical paintings and sculptures.
The main courtyard of Louvre, Courtyard Napoleon, is a huge glass and metal pyramid surrounded by three smaller pyramids. As main entrance to Louvre, Great Pyramid was designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1989. It has become a city landmark of Paris.
An inverted pyramid at entrance to Louvre. At exciting moment of entering palace, it was not important for me to be polite to my wife, so I first took a picture.
The Louvre's collection of over 400,000 works of art are all top-notch pieces from around world and best of best. In short, if you want to truly understand art, you must go to Louvre.
It consists of 6 parts, including Museum of Ancient Greek and Roman Art, Museum of Ancient Oriental Art, Museum of Ancient Egyptian Art, Hall of European Medieval, Renaissance and Modern Art Sculptures, Hall of Past Paintings and Art Room, each of which is an independent museum . 6 parts are divided into 198 exhibition halls, length of largest hall is 205 meters. It is impossible to evaluate all rare treasures in one or two days.
My wife and I were really dizzy inside, and for a long time we could not find a way out.
More than 30,000 works are exhibited at Louvre every day, which are exhibited one at a time. It is almost impossible to see all of his collections.
The Louvre has three priceless treasures that have been passed down from generation to generation. This is statue "Venus with a broken arm", "Statue of Victory" and painting by da Vinci "Mona Lisa". These three treasures are called "Three Treasures of Louvre".
The so-called blessed people are not busy In sculpture art gallery, I first saw angel-goddess of victory with broken wings.
About 190 B.C. e. To commemorate victory in naval battle in Cyprus, a sculptor from Rhodes created this statue of Victory and installed it on island.
Although head and arms of Statue of Victory are not complete, heroic and elegant aura of goddess can still be felt in well-preserved torso. The two outstretched wings and light and flying dress make people feel like goddess is taking off into air, with a strong sense of movement. A full body reveals strength and health under a thin shirt, expressing victory and the joy that comes with it.
I met Venus with a broken arm, goddess of love and beauty in Roman mythology, and also goddess of fertility. The legend says that she was born in foam of the sea and, accompanied by three goddesses of time and three goddesses of grace, she came to Mount Olympus. The gods, attracted by her beautiful appearance, began to look after her one by one.
Venus with a broken arm is famous for her incomparable charm and has become a symbol of love and beauty.
In art gallery, I again saw da Vinci's masterpiece Mona Lisa.
Mona Lisa represents aesthetic direction of Renaissance. The works reflect deep and noble ideological ideas of a woman, express elegance and calmness of a woman, form image of an urban woman from middle class during rise of capitalism, reflect aesthetic ideas of people and desire for female beauty in Renaissance. period .
About 6 million people visit Louvre every year.
What a blessing that I saw above three treasures of city palace, crown of world art, at same time!
The palace has countless collections, and each piece is a treasure. I have no other choice but to follow old tradition and post a series of photos for all my friends to appreciate.
To visit largest museum in world and see so many treasures at same time is a worthwhile trip!