Press release
List of works
Muse du Louvre
Head of communications
Anne-Laure Batrix
Press relations
Sophie Grange
sophie.grange@louvre.fr
Tl. 01 40 20 53 14 / 06 72 54 74 53
Muse du Louvre-Lens
Head of communications
Raphal Wolff
raphael.wolff@louvrelens.fr
Tl. 03 21 18 62.10 / 06 16 61 29 05
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Antiquity
The Rise of Mediterranean Civilizations
1. Nude femaleidol with folded arms
Cyclades, 2700 - 2300 B.C., marble, H. 62.8 cm.
Muse du Louvre, Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman
Antiquities MA 5009
RMN-GP (Muse du Louvre) / Herv Lewandowski
Term of loan for dislay at the Louvre - Lens : 5 years
Marble idols
The Cyclades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea so named because
the islands form a circle (kyklos in Greek) around the sacred island
of Delos, saw the development of a distinctive civilization in the
third millennium B.C., at the end of the Neolithic, or New Stone
Age. Rich in iron ores and copper, ideally situated at the crossroads
of major sea routes linking the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean,
the Cyclades made a significant contribution to the rise of bronze
metallurgy, which had developed initially in Anatolia and Cyprus.
Thanks to extensive local marble quarries, the archipelagos workshops quickly mastered the techniques
involved in the carving of this beautiful material. The many marble idols discovered in the region are prime
examples of the level of refinement achieved by these sculptors. The most common statuettes are female nudes,
whether two-dimensional in inspiration, resembling the shape of a violin, or taking on more modeled forms,
occasionally depicting women in late stages of pregnancy.
The Syros group
Between 2700 and 2300 B.C., a specific category of representations emerged, especially on the island of Syros,
thus giving its name to this group of artifacts, which includes this nude elongated figurine with her arms folded
across her chest. The statuette has a lyre-shaped head, with a long and thin nose. The shoulders are only slightly
broader than the hips and the swelling of the breasts is restrained. Incised lines define the pelvic triangle,
positioned very low beneath the abdomen. A wider, flared gash separates the legs. The feet have not survived.
Remnants of painted decoration can be seen on the idol (around the right eye, traces of red pigment on the arms
and chest), with wavy tresses visible in slight relief on the nape of the neck.
Mother or fertility goddesses
Although the discovery of these figurines is most often tied to a funerary context, the examples unearthed in
domestic structures challenge the various hypotheses put forward to explain the use of these idols. Would they
be dolls buried with departed male members of the community to cater to their sexual appetites? Did they serve
as protectors of the souls they accompanied to the next life? Did the intentionally fractured specimens found in
some tombs take the place of the human sacrifices revealed at earlier burial sites? Some have interpreted these
female statuettes shown standing on tiptoe as dancers, spurred into movement by the rare male harp- or fluteplaying figurines unearthed at the same sites. The sculptors determination in giving these idols female
characteristics naturally calls to mind fertility, and prompts them to be assimilated with the mother goddesses
worshiped by Neolithic peoples.
The statuette of Tuy is carved from two species of wood that the
Egyptians imported from the south - shea wood for the base, and
African grenadilla for the lady herself. There are offering
formulae on the back pillar and the base, dedicated to Osiris, Isis
and "all the Gods who are in the West (necropolis)". In the
afterlife, Tuy was thus expected to enjoy the food and floral
offerings adorning the front of the base.
Chantress of the god Min
Tuy was a chantress of Min, and superior of his harem; she was thus an important person in Akhmim (the god's
cult center) and in Thebes (the capital city, where Min was associated with the dynastic god Amun).
She is portrayed standing, with her left foot forward and her right arm by her side; the perforation in her right
hand suggests that she once held an object, perhaps a floral scepter. With her left hand, she clasps a menat
necklace (a tool of her office) between her breasts.
The dedication to the great gods of the necropolis and the food offerings engraved on the base suggest that this
statuette featured among the grave goods in Tuy's tomb. The text and offerings guaranteed her survival and
protection in the afterlife.
A beauty from the reign of Amenophis III
Tuy's figure typifies the art of the reign of Amenophis III - and is one of its most perfect examples. With her
small round face, almond-shaped eyes, and full lips, she resembles certain portraits of Tiy, Great Wife of
Amenophis III. Her round bosom and high waist emphasize the length and slenderness of her body, with its
narrow hips and slightly protruding belly. The strong curve of her thighs compensates for the extreme slimness
of her legs.
Dress and accessories
These contribute to the elegance of the work as a whole. The way the dress is arranged over the folded arm
creates a radiate pattern of pleats that highlights Tuy's body. A trim, perhaps a ribbon, accentuates the fit of her
floor-length dress. A broad collar with four rows of pendants adorns her breast.
Her most impressive accessory is her heavy wig. Despite its volume, it does not detract from her slender figure
thanks to its delicately-carved details: the slight frizz of each braid, ending in a twist, and the precision of the
three braids at the back of the wig, standing out against the mass of gently waving hair.
Assyrian Empire
Classical Greece
Middle Ages
Italy, Byzantium and Islam in the West
5. Angels head
Fragment of a mosaic from a basilica in Torcello (Italy)
Second half or end of the 11th century
Mosaic, H. 31.6 cm. ; W. 24.6 cm.
Muse du Louvre, Department of Decorative Arts, OA 6460
RMN-Grand Palais (Muse du Louvre) / Martine Beck-Coppola
Term of loan for display at the Louvre - Lens : 1 year
This fragment comes from the well-known mosaic at the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello depicting
the Last Judgment, represented on several tiers. The head belongs to one of the angels of the third tier counting
from the top, behind the tribunal of apostles, on either side of the central image of the Deesis. The two circular
arcs seen in the lower portion of the fragment correspond to the halos of the two apostles between whom the
angel was positioned.
This imposing, high-quality mosaic was very likely created by one of the Byzantine workshops active in Venice
and Torcello in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Among the rare surviving texts attesting to the presence of
Byzantine artists in Italy during this period, the mention dating from 1153 of a Greek mosaicist, Marcus
graecus Indriomeni magister musilei, provides significant justification for this conclusion.
The Torcello Last Judgment has been viewed as close in style and technique to the mosaics in Monreale and
those representing the Ascension of Christ decorating the central dome at the Basilica of San Marco in Venice,
which would date this work to the second half or end of the twelfth century. Thanks to a careful study of the
Torcello mosaics, researchers have now determined that the angels head at the Louvre was completed as early
as the second half or end of the eleventh century.
Gothic Europe
Modern Times
The Renaissance
The theme of Saint Sebastian, whose intercession was commonly invoked against the plague, was taken up
several times by Perugino over the course of his career, whether shown fully clothed in fifteenth-century dress
or, more often, nearly nude, together with another saint, tied to a tree, in a Sacred Conversation, or in
martyrdom. In the Louvre painting, the saint is shown tied to a column, which is also the case for the work on
this theme by Mantegna (also at the Louvre), under a loggia with pilasters overlooking the Umbrian countryside
so dear to the artist. Along the base of the painting, Perugino inscribed a verse from Psalm 37: Sagittae tuae
infixae sunt mihi (Thine arrows stick fast in me).
The position of the saint, his arms behind his back, his legs slightly apart, with his ecstatic heavenward gaze and
the pale blue loincloth striped with red unmistakably recall the Saint Sebastian in the same artists Madonna
between Saint John the Baptist and Saint Sebastian (1493) held at the Uffizi. Added to the similarity in attitude,
there are striking analogies from the viewpoint of style and, given Peruginos skill in handling the nude form,
the young saint strangely resembles a classical sculpture. Together with the rigorous symmetry of the
composition, the convincing perspective work in the pavement, the firmness of line, and the golden light
accentuating the sculptural modeling of forms, this painting brings to mind the best works of the 1490s.
Nevertheless, some historians have put forward a later date for this painting, around 1500. A preparatory
drawing for the figure of the saint has survived (Cleveland Museum of Art). There are also two slightly later
versions of this painting, in So Paulo (Museu de Arte) and Rome (Galleria Borghese).
The elegance and discretion of the dress, the intense but simple
and natural presence of the model make this image of
Castiglione, a friend of the artist and author of The Courtier
(published 1528), the prime portrait of the accomplished
gentleman and perfect courtier described in the book. This
painting was probably executed in Rome in 15141515, on the
occasion of Castiglione's appointment as ambassador to the pope
by the Duke of Urbino.
Baldassare Castiglione
The portrait's subject is Baldassare Castiglione (14781529), poet, humanist, and ambassador, whom Raphael
first met as a young man in Urbino. Famous for writing The Courtier, published in 1528 and dedicated to
describing the ideal man of the court, Castiglione found a friend in Raphael, both men sharing the same ideas
regarding beauty and harmony.
The courtier incarnate
This mutual affinity is perfectly expressed in Raphael's astonishingly simple and natural portrait, painted no
doubt in accordance with the intentions of its model. Castiglione is depicted in a costume of remarkable
elegance and discretion, in line with his concept of the accomplished gentleman. The ambassador's hair is
wrapped in a turban over which sits a beret with a notched edge adorned with a medallion; his sober doublet is
trimmed on the front and upper sleeves in gray squirrel fur laced with black ribbon; under it, a bloused white
shirt. This winter dress suggests that the portrait was painted during the winter of 15141515 when Castiglione,
appointed by the Duke of Urbino to Pope Leo X, was in Rome. Raphael had been working there since 1508.
The sober harmony of the costume, limited to shades of black, gray and white, is extended in the painting's
background of a light and warm gray-beige tone, bathed in diffused light into which the model's shadow gently
fades on the right. The composition is bordered, as in the case of Raphael's other paintings, by a narrow black
band, deliberately cutting the image off at the hands and focusing the viewer's attention on the face and the
intense gaze.
A natural portrait
Castiglione is shown in three-quarter profile from the waist up, seated in an armchair merely suggested in the
lower right, hands folded and his gaze fixed on the viewer; this posture, as well as the soft luminescence that
envelopes the portrait, are a subtle homage to the Mona Lisa. It is certain that Raphael saw the painting during
Leonardo's stay in Rome before the latter left for France. But the respective atmospheres of the two works, and
no doubt the ambitions of the men who painted them, are markedly different. Referring to this portrait in a Latin
elegy dedicated to his wife, Castiglione himself made mention of the uncanny resemblance and the feeling of
human presence it emits. Above all, it is the naturalness the immediacy, freedom of carriage, and expressive
vivacity which make this life-like portrait so extraordinarily modern.
This fritware dish, dating from 156080, shows a blue, green and red bouquet of flowers emerging from a clutch
of leaves. The tulips and carnations of this bouquet, among them a few budding blooms, are painted in a very
naturalistic style. This central decoration is paired with a border enlivened by a pattern of waves and rocks
inspired by fifteenth-century Chinese porcelain pieces.
The form is typical of Iznik ceramics: concave with a flattened rim.
The composition used for this type of dish emerged around 1560 and is referred to as the floral style. The red
pigment seen here, first used in 1557, was to play a prominent role in the Iznik ceramic tradition..
A Christian procession
On the left-hand side of the scene, seven bearded figures wearing pointed caps stand out on a deep blue
background. They are holding tall crosses, an incense burner and processional flags. In the foreground, a figure
holding a cross in his left hand leans over a stream represented by gray undulations. On the right, another figure
atop a building rings bells using a hammer. This detail reveals that the edifice is a church rather than a mosque,
as the cupola and squareness of the structure might lead one to suppose. A man is shown entering this building
through the front doors.
The Armenians of Iran
This tile decoration bears witness to the presence of a Christian community in Iran, concentrated in New Julfa,
the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, which was established in 1605. This quarter was populated by wealthy
merchants, refugees from Armenia and Georgia, who specialized in the silk trade and enjoyed many privileges
under the Safavids.
The scene might represent a baptism by immersion, as traditionally practiced by Armenians. The procession
leads one to conclude that a very important baptism is being depicted, perhaps that of the Armenian king
Tiridates III in 314 by Saint Gregory the Illuminator (c. 257331), who displayed miraculous powers and
converted all of Armenias nobles to Christianity. Tiridates III subsequently declared Armenia to be
Christianized, making it the first nation to formally adopt Christianity as its official religion. But another, more
plausible hypothesis suggests that the ceremony represented here is one known as a baptism of the Cross, a
tradition involving major processions during which crosses are baptized by immersion. This practice is often
noted in the accounts of seventeenth-century travelers.
A church dedicated to Saint Gregory the Illuminator?
This iconographic composition is very seldom found in Armenian church decoration in Isfahan. A New Julfa
church dedicated to Saint Gregory the Illuminator might very well have included the Louvre panel in its
decoration. Although this place of worship dates from the seventeenth century, later adjustments were made to
its original decoration and prevent the validation of this hypothesis. But it is likely that the church included
decoration on a large scale, showing scenes from everyday life as well as the lives of saints. Indeed, other
similar tile panels with blue backgrounds are held at the Louvre and in Berlin.
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Baroque Europe
11. Mary Magdalene with a Night Light by Georges de La Tour
(1593-1652)
Around 1640-1645. H. 1,28 m. ; W. 0,94 m.
Muse du Louvre, Department of Paintings, RF 1949 11
2007 Muse du Louvre / Angle Dequier
Term of loan for display at the Louvre - Lens : 1 year
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French classicism
With this sensual yet modest sculpted figure, Falconet captured the
moment when a young girl becomes a woman. The pure lines of the
slender body and the graceful foot, cautiously extended toward the
water, evoke the bather's rather shy innocence. The subtle
modulations of the marble impart a shiver to the flesh.
Sensuality and modesty
The sculptor has portrayed the moment just before the young girl's bath, as she puts her foot tentatively forward
to test the temperature of the water. This graceful gesture was inspired by the Bather, painted in 1725 by
Franois Lemoyne (author of large decorative works such as the ceiling of the Hercules Salon at Versailles), and
made popular by engravings.
Falconet captures the moment when a young girl becomes a woman, thereby defining a new feminine aesthetic long, slender body, narrow hips, sloping shoulders, and small breasts - which was to impregnate his future work
and influence his contemporaries. The girl's head is small and her oval face forms a triangle. Her hairstyle was
inspired by antiquity: smooth on top, with a central parting. It appealed to Mme du Barry, mistress of Louis XV,
who wears the same style in the portrait sculpted by Augustin Pajou in 1772.
The bather is entirely naked, but not immodest. The purity of line, the reserved pose (leaning slightly forward to
extend her foot), the graceful position of the arms, and the candid face with lowered eyelids, avoid all vulgarity
and keep the spectator at a certain distance. Yet the statuette is neither cold nor inert. The slightly jutting hip
counterbalances the sideways swing of the arms in a dancing movement. And above all, Falconet imparted an
impression of living flesh to his sculpture, with the soft shine of the marble suggesting the grain and shiver of
the skin.
A much-reproduced statuette
The Bather was exhibited at the Salon of 1757, at a time when Falconet was nominated director of sculpture at
the Svres porcelain manufactory with a view to refining its style. The statuette was so successful that it was
copied by Falconet himself and by other sculptors such as Jean-Pierre Antoine Tassaert, a Paris-trained Flemish
artist who became sculptor to the king of Prussia in 1774. Many casts were made, and from 1758 replicas were
produced in biscuit porcelain.
The statuette in the Louvre is a marble copy by Falconet from the collection of Mme du Barry at Louveciennes,
where it formed an interesting contrast with the Bathing Venus by Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain (in the Louvre).
It was seized during the Revolution, and entered the Louvre prior to 1855.
The sculptor's inner conflict
Falconet's success with this kind of statuette is rather surprising: he was a friend of Diderot, and an austere artist
who ascribed a moral purpose to his art in his writings and reflections. He was torn between his ambitions and
his patrons: he was a protg of Mme de Pompadour (1721-1764), favorite of Louis XV and sister of the
marquis of Marigny (director of the king's buildings). Falconet therefore adapted his craft to the requirements of
a court that was so fond of decorative elegance.
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Neoclassicism
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Two Parisian urchins have spontaneously joined the fight: the one on the left clings to the cobblestones, wideeyed under his light infantry cap; the more famous figure to the right of Liberty is Gavroche, a symbol of
youthful revolt against injustice and sacrifice for a noble cause. He sports the black velvet beret (or faluche)
worn by students, as a symbol of rebellion, and carries an overlarge cartridge pouch slung across his shoulder.
He advances right foot forward, brandishing cavalry pistols with one arm raised, a war cry on his lips as he
exhorts the insurgents to fight. The fighter whose beret bears a white royalist cockade and red liberal ribbon and
who carries an infantry saber (1816 model) or briquet, is recognizably a factory worker with his apron and sailor
trousers. The scarf holding his pistol in place on his belly evokes the Cholet handkerchiefa rallying sign for
Royalist leader Charette and the Vendeans. The kneeling figure with the top hat of a bourgeois or fashionable
urbanite may be Delacroix himself, or one of his friends. He wears loose-fitting trousers and an artisan's red
flannel belt, and carries a double-barreled hunting gun. The wounded man raising himself up at the sight of
Liberty wears a knotted yellowish scarf, echoing the color of the heroine's dress; his peasant's smock and red
flannel belt suggest the temporary workers of Paris. The blue jacket, red belt, and white shirt echo the colors of
the flag.
A modern subject
"I have undertaken a modern subject, a barricade, and although I may not have fought for my country, at least I
shall have painted for her. It has restored my good spirits" (letter of October 28 to his brother). The soldiers
lying on the ground take up the foreground at the base of the pyramidal structure. In addition to the figure of
Liberty, the corpse without trousers on the left, with arms outstretched and tunic turned up, is another mythical
reference, derived from a classical nude model known as Hectora personification of the Homeric hero. The
Swiss guard lying on his back, to the right of the scene, has contemporary campaign uniform: a gray-blue
greatcoat with a red decoration on the collar, white gaiters, low shoes, and a shako. A cuirassier with a white
epaulette, lying face down next to him, is visible down to the waist. To the left at the back of the triangle are
students (including a student of the Ecole Polytechnique with his Bonapartist cocked hat) and a detachment of
grenadiers in gray greatcoats and campaign uniform. Although the right background of the painting contains
elements of an urban landscape, it seems empty and distant in comparison with the pitched battle that fills the
left side of the scene. The towers of Notre Dame represent liberty and Romanticismas they did for Victor
Hugoand situate the action in Paris. Their position on the left bank of the Seine is inexact, and the houses
between the Cathedral and the river are pure products of the painter's imagination. A sunset glow, mingled with
the canon smoke, illuminates the baroque postures of the bodies and shines bright in the right background,
creating an aura around Liberty, the young boy, and the tricolor flag.
As we have already seen, the composition is given unity by the painter's particularly skilful use of color; the
blue, white, and red elements have counterpoints; the white of the parallel straps across the fighters shoulders
echoes that of the gaiters and of the shirt on the corpse to the left, while the gray tonality enhances the red of the
flag.
Delacroix was admired by Charles X, who purchased The Massacre at Chios and the Death of Charles the Bold.
The artist's friends included the Duchesse de Berry and the Orlans family. He liked to attract attention in the
circles of power and make his mark on public opinion, but was considered at that time as leader of the Romantic
movement and was impassioned by liberty. His emotion during the Three Glorious Days was sincere, and was
expressed to the glory of the "noble, beautiful, and great" citizens of his country.
Delacroix's historical and political paintinga blend of document and symbol, actuality and fiction, reality and
allegorybears witness to the death throes of the Ancien Rgime. This realistic and innovative work, a symbol
of Liberty and the pictorial revolution, was rejected by the critics, who were used to more classical
representations of reality. Having hailed the accession of Louis-Philippe, the work was hidden from public view
during the king's reign, and only entered the Muse du Luxembourg in 1863 and the Louvre in 1874. It is now
perceived as a universal worka representation of romantic and revolutionary fervor, heir to the historical
painting of the 18th century and forerunner of Picasso's Guernica in the 20th.
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