Art in Europe: Why Do We All Want to See the Mona Lisa?

The most popular woman in the world. A crowd viewing the Mona Lisa. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Lee pointed me to an article today about overcrowding at the Louvre and other European museums. According to the article, museums across Europe are feeling the strain from too many visitors, and in some cases they are worried that artworks will be damaged.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/arts/design/european-museums-straining-under-weight-of-popularity.html?_r=0

Images of visitors clamoring to get their selfie with (or even just their shot of) "The Mona Lisa" seem ridiculous from a distance. Why would you subject yourself to such a crush simply to get a bad photo of a painting that is endlessly reproduced? I mean, here it is again:

"The Mona Lisa" isn't a painting; it's the painting.

It's a great picture, no doubt. I am not one of those, like my husband, who feels it is overrated. While I do prefer much of Da Vinci's other work, I am not immune to the mysterious smile and knowing eyes, the hazy sfumato effect, and the cultural weight which comes with being a classic. In a way, "The Mona Lisa" is so classic, that it has become a sort of cultural template for "painting" from which all other paintings depart. 

Therefore, while at first glance the museum crowds seemed ridiculous, I decided to ask myself a few questions:

1. When I go to Paris, will I want to see "The Mona Lisa"? - Yes. 

The answer came to me, even as I tried to be cooler than that, the way I wish I was too cool to want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

2. If I find myself in front of "The Mona Lisa" will I then want to take a picture of it? - Probably. 

Even though I realize that it will be a bad picture which will probably end up being deleted, and I'd do better to take pictures of the straining crowds, since they will be more representative of my actual experience, I have a feeling that a weird groupthink may take over in the moment and I will feel compelled to do what it is that you do when you're at the Louvre.

 This instinct to "collect" experiences is strong in most people. People add the seven wonders of the world to their bucket lists even if they have no idea why they became wonders. People who couldn't care less about Egyptian history nevertheless take a photo by the Great Pyramid. People crowd into the White House, Congress, and Jefferson's home at Monticello who couldn't tell you accurately what the Bill of Rights consists of. (For this last, perhaps, they are blameless, since I doubt some of our Congressional representatives could do any better.) At any rate, people collect, and I wonder how many of the people in these "Mona Lisa" queues would disappear if only the art lovers, the Da Vinci lovers, and the people who know what "sfumato" means remained. It's hard to say, however, even though I care about Da Vinci and art, whether I will visit "The Mona Lisa" for the right reasons either. I can see perfectly well that I won't be able to get any kind of decent view of the painting at the Louvre. I can see that there's no chance of quietly contemplating the work. For that, I'd do better to buy a poster and hang it on my wall. So even though I care about art, are my motives for visiting any better? I will be there just to share the same air as the famous painted lady. I'll be there to say that I was there.

There's not necessarily anything wrong with collecting experiences, either. In a sense these collections of experiences add up to a collective sense of belonging to the human race. By appreciating "The Mona Lisa", taking a picture at the Great Pyramid, visiting the White House or Monticello, we reconfirm with each other our values - what we consider beautiful, worth protecting, significant. The crowds to see "The Mona Lisa" also, doubtless, help to fund the preservation of countless lesser-known art masterpieces which may then be protected for years to come. Moreover, it is possible to take things too far the other direction and refuse to see even places which might be very enjoyable for fear of being too conventional. I had an ex-boyfriend, for example, who would purposely travel to the most obscure places possible, simply for the pleasure of being original. 

Still it is funny how we have settled upon this one great portrait and these few great museums as the pilgrimages to make. Perhaps if we could spread out more - give our love to more diverse works of art, and take part of our time to explore some lesser-known locations - these European museums wouldn't be in such a jam. 

I will, then, see "The Mona Lisa," though I will try to resist the urge to take a picture. I will also ascend to the top of the Eiffel Tower - possibly even while wearing some sort of scarf and fancying myself very Parisian. But I will also make a point to visit some lesser-known art treasures.

One I have my eye on is the Gustave Moreau Museum. http://www.musee-moreau.fr/ Moreau is a Symbolist painter I have long admired, and a visit to his house/museum is included with the Paris Museum Pass. Below is a video, featuring, strangely enough, of one of my favorite screenwriters, Julie Delpy,  http://jensroadtoeurope.blogspot.kr/2014/07/movies-about-or-around-europe-2-days-in.html, giving a little tour of the museum. The light in the video is not so great, so I'll also include an image below the video. 

Oedipus and the Sphinx, Gustave Moreau

Finally, I'd like to include one more from Da Vinci, also in the Louvre. I hope that the crowd around this painting is not so intense, and that I might, after all, get a chance to gaze deep into a work by Da Vinci in person. 

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo Da Vinci

How about you? Would you want to see "The Mona Lisa"? Does an attraction's popularity increase or decrease your desire to see it? Share in the comments. 

Art in Europe: "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" and the Chateau de Chantilly

In this first art-themed blog entry, I think of an artwork I want to see, hunt down the place where it is kept, and then (despite reading in several blogs and travel articles that I can see it there) find out that it is no longer on public view and has been replaced by a facsimile version. Nonetheless, the whole process turns out to have been worthwhile.

The artwork is "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry", an illuminated manuscript and book of hours created in the early 1400's, most famous for its calendar pages. A book of hours is essentially a prayer book, but the calendar pages of this particular illuminated manuscript are famous for their vivid depiction of daily life at the time, including both the nobility and the peasants. Most of the work was created by the Limbourg Brothers, but it was later added to by other artists. Here is the image for February: 

February from "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry," depicting winter in a peasant village.

I learned about this artwork through my one and only art history course at Smith College when I was about 21 years old. It's hard to articulate exactly what strikes me about the images - but I think it has to do with how rich in narrative possibility they are. You can really enter into these people's lives through the manuscript, and it's a picture of a whole community rather than portraits of individuals. Unlike historical or biblical paintings, you can fill out the story with your own imaginings about the people and situations. It is the type of art I would have loved to have had in a storybook when I was a child. In a weird way, it's like a fine art version of those Richard Scarry books I used to spend hours poring over in my grandparents' TV room. The Scarry books helped me to understand my own world, while this manuscript gives me insight into another age.

Les Très Riches Heures du Busytown.

It isn't just the narratives that attract me, however. The vivid colors and the playfulness of many of the scenes have also remained in my memory all this time. Here is a website where you can see each of the calendar pages followed by a brief description. http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/labors-of-the-months-from-the-tres-riches-heures/

It was, then, with great excitement that I learned that "Les Très Riches Heures" might be found on display at the Chateau de Chantilly, a mere 45 minute day-trip from Paris, and that, moreover, entrance to the Chateau was covered under the Paris Museum Pass, which I already intend to purchase. I began researching the chateau and all its other attractions. 

Overhead view of the Chateau de Chantilly and some of its grounds.

What I found was exciting. First, the gardens are reportedly quite beautiful. They are divided into an English garden, a Chinese-English garden which includes the Hameau (hamlet, said by some to have inspired Marie Antoinette's own rustic hideaway), the small park (a wooded area with statues), and the Grand Parterre (the grand landscaping in front of the castle, visible in the picture above.) 

The "Isle of Love" or "L'ile d'Amour" in the English garden.

 Second, the chateau's museum contains a great collection of older French and Italian art, including works by Raphael, Titian, Delacroix, Fra Angelico and Antoine Watteau. Its collection cannot be loaned out to other museums, so the only opportunity to see them is either in reproduction or in the chateau. While none of these artists, other than Delacroix, are among my favorites, I'm always looking to educate my eye and explore the works of famous (and obscure) artists. Here are some of the images on display, as selected by the official Chateau de Chantilly website:

"The Oyster Lunch", Jean Francois de Troy, one of the many works on display at Chateau de Chantilly, and the kind of fun, slice of life painting I am inclined to appreciate the most. 

"The Three Graces" by Raphaël, probably one of the most well-known works in the collection.

"Self-Portrait at Twenty-Four" by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Apparently the artist worked on this over his lifetime, only feeling it was completely finished in his sixties.

"Stained Glass Window of Psyche and Love Story", French School of the sixteenth century.

In addition to the gardens and the works of art on display, there are a number of other attractions which don't necessarily hold much interest for me, but may interest others. The stables are said to be palace-like, and equestrian shows are presented at the chateau. For you non-vegans out there, apparently they have really amazing locally made whipped cream which you can sample at the restaurant at the chateau or in town. The chateau and its grounds apparently featured in the James Bond movie "A View to a Kill." Additionally, Chantilly is apparently one of the places where "Chantilly lace" originates from, and there is a lace museum in the town.

The seventh prince of Condé, Louis-Henri Bourbon, believed he would be reincarnated as a horse, so he had these grand stables designed for his future life.

Due to all these attractions, there's a strong possibility that I will visit this chateau, despite having found out through more careful research that the original impetus for the visit - "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" was taken out of public view for preservation purposes in the 1980s and replaced with a facsimile.  Many travel bloggers and even book authors seem unaware of the switch, however, which makes one wonder how important authenticity is.  There are many facsimiles of artworks and architecture throughout Europe and the world, and often, due to wars, the original of something doesn't even exist. The entire town of Munich, for example, was rebuilt after World War II, based on photographs taken by the Nazis in anticipation of the city's destruction. If the facsimile of a great work can bring aesthetic pleasure and intellectual interest, isn't it still worth seeing? 

However, the most famous images from "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" are widely available on-line, and full facsimile versions are available in book form. It certainly wouldn't be worth a journey across the seas just to see a copy you might buy from Amazon. In the end, though, a 45-minute day trip from Paris and the promise of leisurely walks in gardens said to be much less crowded than those of Versailles are a good draw. That and the possibility of falling in love with another of the Chateau's famous artworks, perhaps one that is currently unknown to me, have put the Chateau de Chantilly on my travel plans map.

To explore the Chateau de Chantilly for yourself, please see their official website: http://www.domainedechantilly.com/en

Movies About or Around Europe: "Marie Antoinette"

I had previously watched "Marie Antoinette" around the time it first came out, but decided to watch it again when I remembered that it was shot on the grounds of Versailles, one of the places I plan to visit on my trip. I had lukewarm feelings about the film the first time I saw it, and those feelings remained the same on a second viewing.

The movie has a beautiful, decadent surface. It seems to revel in that decadence, with montages of endless pastries and shoes, grand displays of meals, endless expanses of lawn, ever-changing gowns and hairstyles. Of course, this is appropriate for a movie about Versailles and its excesses, yet the attention to characterization does not match the set design or the costume design, and this mismatch is felt. As much as I admire Kirsten Dunst in general, I felt like she was out of her depth here. Either that or the script or the direction didn't make use of her talents. It's possible that Sofia Coppola wanted to portray her as such an ordinary girl that she became too ordinary. The placement of a pair of Converse shoes in an otherwise period shot, for example, seems aimed at convincing the audience that she was just an average girl.

However, it seems to me that only someone like Coppola - the product of a less-than-average childhood, daughter of a celebrated film director, with access to more wealth and privilege than her average audience member - could perceive Marie Antoinette as quite as ordinary as the movie wants us to believe.

There are good things about the movie - It's beautiful to look at, in terms of the aforementioned costume and set-design and also in the cinematography. It's also interesting in terms of the little-known historical information that it hints at, though doesn't fully explore. Curious movie-goers such as myself might take the initiative to follow up on such things as her long-term affair with Axel Von Fersen (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoinette/faces/ferson.html http://leahmariebrownhistoricals.blogspot.kr/2012/02/decrypting-secret-letters-of-marie.html) and whether or not she really uttered "Let them eat cake!" http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake

Marie Antoinette meets Axel Von Fersen, played by Jamie Dornan.

It is certainly good to view Marie Antoinette not as a villain, but as a human in a particular set of circumstances which may have blinded her to the misery around her, which possibly were even designed to shelter and protect her from the world of ordinary people. It's never a good idea to see people as "all good" or "all bad", and this movie does its bit to emphasize that every time there's a beheading, there's a human being inside that head.

That said, the movie also seems to celebrate that decadence in a way that reminds me of the more-recent, but also more critical "The Wolf of Wall Street" which similarly drenched the audience in depictions of excess. Unlike "The Wolf of Wall Street," however, which hints at the complicity that the audience has in propping up the lifestyle of the super-wealthy, "Marie Antoinette" merely displays the wealth without exploring why/how such inequity comes to exist. "The Wolf of Wall Street" seems to posit that inequity is maintained, at least in part, by a public which themselves longs to possess such wealth and celebrates displays of excess. Though political and economic subjugation likely play a greater role in inequity, the public's admiration of wealth and luxury on a grand scale certainly enables it. "Marie Antoinette" has no interest in thinking about why, however. Coppola's film also fails to meaningfully question the value of wealth and material things, as "The Wolf of Wall Street" arguably does, through its shots of miserable drug abuse, extreme anxiety, marital disaster and the betrayal of friends.

Though it's played for comedy, no sensible person wants to end up like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in this scene from "The Wolf of Wall Street."

 After a short period of unease with palace protocol, Marie seems to glide easily into her luxurious lifestyle and take refuge in material things when her marriage proves less than thrilling. The endless leisure that money can buy seems to suit her just fine. There is no moment where the decadence seems to sour on her, not even as she is taken away from Versailles to her imprisonment. There is no moment where the audience is shown a downside to such luxury. Marie Antoinette is a material girl, through and through, and the movie finds no problem with this. The only downside to enormous (and one might say, obscene) wealth portrayed in the movie is the possibility of its destruction by an angry mob. The movie's angry mob, is never shown in any kind of sympathetic light. Their hunger and poverty is merely theoretical hearsay in the film. They only appear in person once, at the end of the film, as a chorus of angry voices and darkened, seemingly senseless, torch-carrying faces. The final shot is of a beautiful Versailles bedroom in disarray after the mob's attack. It is almost as if to say - "how thoughtless of the mob to destroy such beauty."

The last shot in the movie - not a bustling Versailles of today, open to the public, the beauty available to all, but rather a scene of beauty thoughtlessly destroyed by a mob we never come to know as real people.

It is not an original thought, but for some people to live in such luxury and decadence, many others must live in suffering and poverty. This movie shows us the height of the luxury and the enjoyment of it, as if to advertise to us how great it must be, without showing the cost in others' lives or criticizing its value. It is meant to be, perhaps, just a sympathetic coming-of-age story of a misunderstood historical figure, but because Marie Antoinette was such a political figure, failing to deal with the politics in any real way weakens the film in my view, or makes it at least difficult to enjoy. Adding the modern music - especially the 80s anthem "I Want Candy" - adds an extra layer of superficiality to the proceedings. Whether or not Marie Antoinette herself ever uttered the words, the film is giving us cake, heavy on the icing, where bread might be more suitable or interesting.

Perhaps the only political message that the film delivers is that the rich, by their very remove, can become oblivious to the people they rule. This may indeed be true, but it doesn't hold the king and queen very responsible for the roles they played in their own ignorance, nor does it question the value of concentrated wealth. Politically this movie seems nearly as oblivious as its title character.

In terms of European inspiration, however, I am at least glad that it has inspired me to look up further historical information on its central characters.

For a glowing review of "Marie Antoinette" check out Roger Ebert's take:  http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/marie-antoinette-2006

For a critical review that I happen to agree with a lot of (and which is written, sadly, with much more aplomb than mine):
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/23/061023crci_cinema?currentPage=all

Places I Will Go: Du Pain et Des Idees Boulangerie

Some of the posts on this blog will be reminders of places I want to make sure to visit while I'm in Europe. Here's the first of these - Du Pain et Des Idees Boulangerie. I discovered this bakery via a Buzzfeed article of all things - http://www.buzzfeed.com/candacelowry/bakeries-around-the-world-you-should-visit-before-you-die  and was attracted both by the bakery's fanciful name and by one of its products, the Green Tea Matcha Croissant. I am a huge fan of green tea products and the croissant, so this is a match(a) made in heaven for me. (no apologies for the bad pun.)

I really hope this still exists by the time I get to Paris!

Here's a link to the bakery, so you can feast your eyes on its many exciting products and salivate along with me: http://dupainetdesidees.com/produits.html