Paris

Louvre
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Michelangelo's Dying Slave

Egyptian Monument
Medieval Moats
Various Statues
Venus de Milo

The Monna Lisa
Psyche Revived by the Kiss of Love
Winged Victory of Somothrace

The Musee Du Louvre, containing one of the most important art collections in the world, has a history extending back to medieval times. First constructed as a fortress in 1190 by King Philippe-Auguste to protect Paris against Viking raids, it lost its imposing keep and dungeon in the reign of Francois I, who replaced it with a Renaissance-style building. Thereafter, four centuries of French kings and emperors improved and enlarged it. A recent addition is the main courtyard's glass pyramid entrance, from which all the galleries are reached.

Louvre Buildings and Doorway: Part of the Louvre and a large double-door entryway.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel: The triumphal arch was built to celebrate Napoleon's victories in 1805.

Louvre Pyramids: The main entrance to the Louvre. The last photo shows the inverted pyramid below the surface of the plaza. Not wanting to give away to many secrets, but from Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, this is the central point at the end of the book.

Louvre Elevator: The was an amazing elevator. It's actually a cylinder that raises up from the floor to the upper level.

Michelangelo's Dying Slave: Michelangelo sculpted this work between 1513 and 1520 as part of a group of statues for th ebase of the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome.

Egyptian Monument: A large marble monument from Egypt.

Medieval Moats: These photos show what Philippe-Auguste's fortress used to look like as well as part of the actual excavations exposing the base of the twin towers and drawbridge support.

Various Statues

Venus de Milo: Found in 1820 on the island of Milo in Greece, this ideal of feminine beauty was made in the Hellenistic Age at the end of the 2nd century BC.

The Monna Lisa: On a previous trip to the Louvre, it was during low tourist season and we were allowed to take photos of all the artwork. This trip was during high tourist season and no photos were allowed of the paintings. This is a direction sign to the Monna Lisa painting.

Leonardo da Vinci painted this small portrait of a Florentine noblewoman, known as La Gioconda, on about 1504. It was soon regarded as the prototype of the Renaissance portrait. The sitter's engaging smile has prompted endless commentary ever since.

Winged Victory of Somothrace: From Greece, late 3rd-early 2nd century BC.

Psyche Revived by the Kiss of Love: This marble sculpture is by Antonio Canova (1757-1822).

Aphrodite heard of Psyche's mortal beauty and was so jealous she commanded Eros to put a spell on Psyche so that no man would ever marry her. After casting the spell, he was so struck by her beauty that he was accidentally pricked by his arrowhead and fell in love with her himself.
    With no husband in sight, Psyche's parents took her to an oracle where she learned she would never marry a man, but was destined to marry a monster instead. Facing the inevitable, she left for the mountain to be with the monster. She found her new mountain home wasn't what she expected, it was a beautiful palace. She enjoyed her new life with her husband, though he never revealed his appearance to her. He was very kind and loving and gave her everything she wanted, but warned her that if she ever saw his face, the relationship would be over and he would leave.
    Like all women in Greek mythology, Psyche's curiosity led her to disobey what she had been warned and she took a lamp to the monster while he was sleeping to see his face. It was Eros, the God of love. Her great surprise caused her to spill a drop of oil from her lamp on his shoulder, which woke him. He was so upset that he flew out of the palace, leaving Psyche in an empty field.
    Psyche was extremely saddened by what she had done, so she prayed to Aphrodite for help. The goddess responded to her with a list of several impossible tasks to accomplish. Every task she took on, she received help unknowingly from Eros. She had to sort a room full of mixed grains into separate piles, which would have taken a lifetime to do except she was helped by an army of ants (sent by Eros) so it was done by the next morning. Another task for Psyche was to go down to the Underworld to get a box of Persephone's beauty. Knowing it was an impossible task for a mortal to venture into the Underworld, she was ready to give up, until a voice (belonging to Eros) told her not to give up, and gave her instructions on making her way through the Underworld to get the box. He warned her not to look inside the box under any circumstances. When she finally retrieved the box, of course her curiosity led her to open it. There was nothing inside but darkness, which put her into a deep sleep.
    Eros was unable to restrain himself any longer and rushed to Psyche's side, wakening her with a kiss. He told her to bring the box to Aphrodite, while he went to Zeus to ask for help. Psyche was given the ambrosia of the gods which made her immortal. Aphrodite gave up her anger towards Psyche, since she had become a goddess and was no longer unworthy of her beauty. Finally Eros and Psyche were able to truly be together.

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