The Louvre

It was pretty crowded, and the press around the Mona Lisa is kind of crazy, to the point of hysteria. (Surely other paintings are just as cool, or maybe more so. But we didn't hear any one tell us so, so we just keep treading the well-worn path.) Doesn't matter, though. This place is several wonders of the world, a bunch of UNESCO world heritage sites, all rolled into one. It deserves a week! We were grateful for our three hours.

The French, of course. Géricault, Delacroix, Vigée-Lebrun, who is painting her own self with her own daughter. (Honourable mention to M. J-L David, and the extremely admirable Ingres.)

 

And the Italians. These Botticellis, so pretty that the heart actually quickens!

One of those paintings that might be cooler than the Mona Lisa, by da Vinci himself.

The unfathomable Raphael, perfectly serene or tumultuous, as the mood (or commission) strikes.

Here he is again, equally perfect in an entirely different register.

The Salle des États. There's a famous painting back there.

And lots more besides!

Titian, later sort of notoriously parodied by Manet

Titian again, sounding the very depths

Veronese; busy, busy!

Vegetable faces:

A guy with a really, really big head.

Disease, diminished and then outright trumped by a greater tenderness.

Same thing. Dire Caravaggio, evoking deepest emotion in his "Death of the Virgin."

Back to, ending with the idea of wonders of the world and the heritage of humanity. These beautiful, beautiful faces!