Louvre and random wanderings!

Well,

I had my first visit to the Louvre of this trip and it was...amazing. We were able to see the medieval architecture and the ancient foundations that made up the building that was once a dungeon turned palace turned museum.

from inside the pyramid!

old foundations

dungeonsss

One of the first things we saw was hamurrabi's code. It was awesome to see such a fundamental concept being displayed and its fascinating to see all the script carved onto the stone and the fact that it was deciphered...is amazing. We discussed french art from the early 16th century and then were allowed to wander the vastness that is the museum. For this course, I have to give a presentation of a piece of art, either a sculpture or a painting. I have to present on Eugene Delacroix's "Death of Sardanapalus" so I wandered looking for it. It was a success! The piece is massive. I'll take a picture next to it when i present so that i can show you the scale and vastness of Delacroix's masterpiece. I'll also elaborate the story once i'm done putting my presentation together which should be tomorrow.

the code!

LOOK AT THAT!

top of the stone

My painting! "Death of Sardanapalus"

The Louvre is fascinating. Its huge and I ended up stumbling into the Mona Lisa which is much smaller than expected and into the Italian art gallery. There is this one painting of David and Goliath where the artist has painted two versions, that when placed back to back, you can see both sides. From one angle, you can see David's face and from the other, you can see Goliath's face. Its really really cool. 

one side

now the other!

I plan on visiting the Louvre more often on this trip. It has a lot to offer and I have to make the best of being an art historian and being able to get in for free. Its cool! I get a card provided by Rutgers with my face on it, and it says that i'm an art historian studying in paris! I was able to use it in Belgium to see one of my favorite paintings "Death of Marat" by Jacques Louis David (I will write all about that trip soon I PROMISE) and the cherry on top was getting in for free! Woot woot! finally rutgers coming through for me.

look at the view!

Well, I hope to catch up on this past week soon because I did lots of cool things!

Please keep reading!
Ro <3