PARIS - France 2014 - page 142

with the painting, making it the centerpiece of the small collection of Italian masterpieces
that would, in three centuries, become the Louvre museum. He called it La Gioconda ( La
Joconde in French)—a play on both her last name and the Italian word for “happiness.”
We know it as the Mona Lisa —a contraction of the Italian for “my lady Lisa.” Warning:
François was impressed, but Mona may disappoint you. She's smaller than you'd expect,
darker, engulfed in a huge room, and hidden behind a glaring pane of glass.
Thehugecanvasopposite Mona isPaoloVeronese's The Marriage at Cana, showing
the Renaissance love of beautiful things gone hog-wild. Venetian artists like Veronese
painted the good life of rich, happy-go-lucky Venetian merchants.
Nowforsomething Neoclassical. Exitbehind MonaLisa andturnrightintotheSalle
Daru to find The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David. Neoclassi-
cism, once the rage in France (1780-1850), usually features Greek subjects, patriotic sen-
timent, and a clean, simple style. After Napoleon quickly conquered most of Europe, he
insistedonbeingmadeemperor(notmerelyking)ofthis“NewRome.”Hestagedanelab-
orate coronation ceremony in Paris, and rather than let the pope crown him, he crowned
himself. The setting was Notre-Dame Cathedral, with Greek columns and Roman arches
thrown in for effect. Napoleon's mom was also added, since she couldn't make it to the
ceremony. A key on the frame describes who's who in the picture.
The Romantic collection, in an adjacent room (Salle Mollien), has works by
ThéodoreGéricault( The Raft of the Medusa —oneofmyfavorites)andEugèneDelacroix
(Liberty Leading the People). Romanticism, with an emphasis on motion and emotion,
is the flip side of cool, balanced Neoclassicism, though they both flourished in the early
1800s. Delacroix's Liberty, commemorating the stirrings of democracy in France, is also
an appropriate tribute to the Louvre, the first museum ever opened to the common rabble
of humanity. The good things in life don't belong only to a small, wealthy part of society,
but to everyone. The motto of France is Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité —liberty, equality, and
the brotherhood of all.