In Paris this week clouds roiled, leaves turned and rain droplets harmoniously splattered off of umbrella tops, ringing in the ears of Parisians as they ran to work, waited for the bus, or wandered the streets looking for a warm, dry cafe. Autumn is upon us in all its melancholy glory and with it a new wave of exhibitions has been launched throughout the city.
The Museum of Decorative Arts is presenting jewels by Van Cleef, the Musee de la Vie Romantique is showing cozy romantic interiors, the Musee Guimet is initiating us into the history of tea. We have heard much about "Impressionisme et la Mode" at Orsay and Mary Cassat at the Mona Bismark on the American Clubs website too. But the exhibition I want to talk about for this first Paris Notes column for Aurelien is at the Paris history museum.
The Musee Carnavalet seems a logical choice because it's a place that unites us all, Francophiles and Francophones, as it relates the stories and scenes of the French capital.
Last Wednesday the museum unveiled a new exhibition : Les couleurs du ciel, a selection of paintings made for Paris churches in the seventeenth century. This exhibition will interest anyone who has a bit of curiosity. For those who are not already initiated into the works from the Golden Age of French painting, you can easily follow the evolution of styles from the remnants of mannerism to orderly classicism, and get to know the names of the most important painters of France at that time : La Hyre, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Brun, etc. For the initiated, the paintings are little known, not often displayed and offer a variety of sacred subjects. For everyone it's an interesting opportunity to see the gigantic paintings made to be hung high on the stone walls of a church chapel from a new point of view. The intimate space and low ceilings in the museum's exhibition hall may not seem like the ideal way to see these masterpieces, but you can observe the paintings entirely from the far side of the room and then walk up to them for a closer look so details that you couldn't see in a church come into full view. Samson's powerful muscles and Virgin Mary's sweet and sad expressions and the wrinkly lines of old Saint Jerome's pensive face are particularly moving. The museum announced this week on its Facebook page that they discovered the inscription ANNO 1613 on the portrait of Marie de Medicis by Pourbus when it was taken down from a rather high place on the museum's walls for the exhibition. Even Pourbus specialists had missed this detail!
Of course after visiting the temporary exhibition, I have to suggest taking a tour of the museum's permanent exhibits that are all noteworthy, and merit further commentary at a later time.
So, for those of us who are despairing to see the end of Summer's warm rays, take heart! There are plenty of activities that await us during the following months. And remember, no one came to Paris to get a sun tan!
CSL
Musee Carnavalet
23 rue de Sevigne
Paris 3e
tel: +33 (0)1 44 59 58 58
Exhibition : Les Couleurs du Ciel, peintures des eglises de Paris au XVIIe siecle
October 4, 2012 - February 24, 2013
Link to Musee Carnavalet website
