The Louvre and the Essence of France

The Louvre and the Essence of France

We begin with the edifice itself. To discover the grandeur of the former palace, The Louvre, we see how it is part of the giant perspective that cuts through the city and culminates with the Champs Elysées and Arc de Triomphe. Why?

After viewing the originals of works that you have known since childhood, we concentrate on paintings that are part of France’s image and of the French sensibility.

Why does the art commissioned in France between the 16th and late 19th centuries so often feature mythology? Why do so many deities adorn Parisian buildings – and with the  Statue of Liberty, the New York harbor? Is the  heroine of the iconic Liberty leading the People (1831) a goddess, or does a detail reveal a woman of flesh and blood?

We’ll be in the middle of stories, to finish in the magnificent Palais-Royal gardens – which because buildings hide them from the street, many visitors ignore.