Musée d’Orsay

This post is going to be a lot shorter than most because I can follow the rules in a museum. You know- rules like no smoking, no eating, or no touching the objects in the galleries (and no licking, you really can’t do that to historic objects). Musée d’Orsay has another rule- no photography of any kind. So I don’t have any pics to share with you inside this beautiful museum, which has been converted from a train station but has retained most of its architectural details. See the outside for yourself...

Musée d’Orsay houses works from the 19^th and early 20^th century. It contains a lot of very famous and important works of art, particularly for Impressionist painters. A visit to many of the galleries is like walking through an art history textbook. Paintings like this...

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/portrait-of-the-artists-mother-2976.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=237ef8c554

Or this crazy famous piece that turned the art world on its head when it was first exhibited...

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire_id/luncheon-on-the-grass-7201.html?no_cache=1&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bsword%5D=manet&tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509%2C842%2C846%2C847%2C848%2C850&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=851&cHash=aa98c55e7b

And this sculpture too...

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire_id/small-dancer-aged-14-2202.html?no_cache=1&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bsword%5D=degas&tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509%2C842%2C846%2C847%2C848%2C850&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=851&cHash=8e36641d95

I also found some pieces that I had never seen before that blew me away. This is one example...

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/severine-2975.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=b4bb31ee0f

Also breathtaking is the view from the 5^th floor, which looks out on the Seine...

 

 

So, generally a day full of pretty. I also bought a book on a textile show written in French. I’m pretty sure that decision is going to haunt me for years to come every time I try to read it. Oh well.

Square et Fontaine des Innocents

Remember the square outside my window?

It turns out to more historic then I realized. The site dates back to the 12^th century, when the church of the Holy Innocents was built. Being a churchyard, there was also a cemetery on the grounds, which is the reason there is no longer a church there.

In its history, Paris has gone through some significant reorganization when the population levels soared high above what was intended. Some of that resulted in entire slum neighbourhoods were razed to be rebuilt in a more organized fashion. It also meant that the cemeteries were filled far passed capacity, which caused health problems for the living inhabitants.

In 1786, the cemetery on the current square site was closed and nearly 2 million skeletons were rehoused to underground catacombs (which is why you generally don’t find cemeteries when you wander around Paris because they were all moved at some point).

The fountain itself dates from 1550 (although the original carvings by Jean Goujon now belong to the Louvre’s collection). The fountain was moved to its current location in the 19^th century and received a facelift- it had been located next to a wall so it only had decoration on three sides. I can’t tell which is the ‘new’ side, see if you can decide...

 

 

Today, instead of a church congregation the square is home every evening to mostly teenager who hang out and skateboard. It’s a loud, busy place that is central to the many bars and restaurants in the neighbourhood.

The Louvre- Round One

Today I went to visit the Louvre, which so large it’s really a complex of many museums that happen to be in the same area. It was originally a palace that has gradually been added to over centuries. In its current configuration the museum’s exterior is a mix of old and new. See for yourself in the courtyard...

 

 

 

I’m actually going back on Wednesday to see the things I didn’t have time for (my brain basically shut down at one point from art and antiquities overload) and to see the Costume Museum in the complex, which is closed on Mondays. There were two main areas I wanted to see today. One is the Greek and Roman galleries, which contains a lot of sculpture...

and it also had an insane amount of tour groups which kind of made me freak out due to lack of personal space... the visitors in those groups who liked to have their photos taken while *touching* the sculptures did not help. I had to keep reminding myself that I was on vacation and not at work, so I didn’t end up yelling at a complete stranger (although my fellow conservators would understand- when you are trained to above all else protect old objects in museums that instinct is hard to turn off).

Anyway, my favourite sculpture was this one, an Aphrodite from 440-400 BC...

The second area I wanted to visit was the Ancient Egyptian galleries, which did not disappoint. While it was all lovely, there was one piece in particular I was looking for....

 

This, tucked off in the corner, is the Zodiac Ceiling, originally from a temple in the complex of buildings in Dendera. It is a map showing ancient astronomy and is an incredibly rare because of its subject matter...

You would never know it from the signage around the piece, but this is one of the objects that the antiquities department in Egypt has demanded be returned to the country. It was originally removed from the temple (which still stands) during the Napoleonic ‘expeditions’ using the methods of early 19^th century archeology (being brute force and dynamite). It’s in remarkable shape given its history and in its very sturdy frame, does not look like it would be easy to return to Egypt even as a loan...

In the afternoon I went to the decorative arts wing. In the same room as Napoleon’s throne is this vase...

 

It’s an example of Orientalism, which is a general style to describe European interpretation of non-western art. This piece dates from 1804-1806 and is a good example of how the spoils of Napoleon’s military conquests inspired pretty trinkets for the ultra-rich to decorate their palaces. However, this is before Europeans understood how to read hieroglyphics, so all the writing on it is stylized and weirdly looks more like Arabic than anything else.

So in short, the Louvre is a museum that bigger then you can ever imagine and filled with more objects then is possible to see in one day. Looking forward to round two.

Bastille Day

Today was Bastille Day, a national holiday to commemorate the birth of the French Republic. We originally thought about walking down to watch the parade in the morning, but after we had been told we would have to be up super early a new plan was hatched...

 

We watched it on tv instead, which was a much more sensible option. The parade is basically a show of French military might, with various kinds of domestic and foreign troops marching. There are also a few foreign nations invited to march as well. Croatia’s uniforms were particularly interesting...

 

There was also a large display of military transportation, including planes, helicopters, and tanks. It turned out that we were on the flight path, so we could look out the window to see them...

It also meant that when we were walking around town today, you encountered a lot of troops in their dress uniforms taking in the sights and getting their picture taken with pretty female tourists...

 

I saw a number of interesting things while out walking, but on the theme of having one's picture taken, I wanted to share this photo...

 

 

Which was an impromptu photo session outside Notre Dame. Only in Paris.

Off to the Louvre tomorrow.

A Room with a View

I’ve left Holland and have travelled to Paris, which is where I will be for the next week. There are five of us and the most sensible solution was to rent an apartment, rather than stay in a hotel. This is the view from out windows...

 

 

And that large building over there? That would be Notre Dame Cathedral  scratch that, I was really tired when I originally posted this last night. That church is actually St-Eustache, Notre Dame is near by but in the other direction...

Try not to hate me too much. The last time I went on a proper vacation was five years ago. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Het Loo Palace

I visited the former royal palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn yesterday. It was first lived in by King William of Orange and Queen Mary in the late 1600’s and remained inhabited by the Dutch Royal family until it was given to the State in the 1960’s (it was given by Queen Wilhelmina at her death on one condition- if the Netherlands ever abolishes the monarchy, the palace would have to be given back to her family). I only heard about the palace because I was staying in Apeldoorn. When I realized who the original inhabitants were, I had to go because they were also co-rulers of England and built the addition on Hampton Court Palace, where I had the bulk of my internship in 2011. When I got to Het Loo, I was blown away at the forest surrounding it...

And the palace itself is also breathtaking....

 

Planning for the transition of royal residence began in 1968 and the final rooms were finished in 1999. Het Loo went through an extensive restoration to the interior and exterior of the building, including removing the white stucco over the brickwork and removing more contemporary additions (even taking out the top floor, which was a later add-on). The interiors reflect the different eras members of the House of Orange inhabited the house. The Grand Hall on the second floor was particularly striking (all of the rooms contain a significant amount of original textiles and are kept rather dark for their preservation)...

However, the most important room in the place, for me, is King William’s bedchamber because it contains this stunning bed...

This piece was gifted to Het Loo in 1995 from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, who had received it from the collection of William Randolph Hearst. The bed was made in England when it was ordered by King William. As soon as I saw the fabric my heart skipped a beat. One of the tasks I participated in at Hampton Court was cleaning the larger objects in the King`s wing. The fabric used in this chamber is copied directly from the fabric at Hampton Court. I also documented and surface cleaned his ceremonial bed, which is like much more ornate then this bed is. I thought I had pictures from my internship on Dani (my laptop), but it appears not.

So this bed was an unexpected treat.

The gardens of Het Loo are a spectacular example of formal gardens from the late 17^th century. See for yourself...

 

 

 

When the palace was given to the state, there was no visible trace of these gardens and was mainly grass. Years were spent deciding what to do with them until excavations proved many of the foundations were buried below ground. So most of it was recreated in the 1980`s after intensive research...

 

 

I can`t say enough how beautiful this place is. If you have a chance to visit it, please do.

Honour and Memory

The whole reason this trip took place was my Grandfather MacIntosh’s last wish was for the family to come to Holland and honour his memory. He served in the Canadian Army in World War II and, along with most of the Canadian troops, liberated Holland from the Germans in 1945. While other nations were involved in some battles, Canada truly liberated the country and restored freedom to a people that spent five years in complete misery. I don’t think the Canadian public really understand how appreciative the Dutch people are of our country’s efforts.

I can’t really talk about what we did today, other then we carried out his wishes as best as we could...

One story I can share is an object outside a World War II museum in Nijverdal. This piece of metal sits without an explanatory label out front...

So I asked our guide what it was. It was recently unearthed in the town and it was part of a bridge that had been bombed out during the war. And if you look at it up close, you can tell a serious amount of force was involved in blowing it up. He also told us that two live bombs were recently found that had been dropped on the town during the war. They were found during work on a train track and had buried in the earth below- somehow they didn’t blow up over decades of train vibrations. It's so lucky that they never blew up, but it shows that the aftermath of war can be found long after the battles are over...