Thousands and thousands of empty, mortal faces, admiring others that have never died. The Louve may possiblybe the worlds largest aragment of historical evidence that we do exist and have existed. it is a flavored shot of reassurence with a bitter after taste of mortality and truth. the louve is something that has lasted through the centuries with artifacts that have lasted even longer and as we pass through,we find ourselves rushing as we do through life in the eyes of one of these ancient artifacts. we pass with blank eyes staring at dead eyes and see our own faces in a crowd of people gathering around the only image that appears to still be able to see. This museum evokes and inspires the feelings in us that both sooth our quest for unaltering life and inspires our greatest fears that we may die before we are painted on a canvas or do something profound or even have children. this is humanities biggest plea for an existed and greatest attempt at achieving true immortality. the same immortality that Shakespeare knew he would achieve in his sonnets or Bronte knew she had achieved through Wuthering Heights, which is why she could finally die. in this place we can now be a part of history, we can feel it and touch it for a couple moments of our life and realize the kind of life that it takes. the louve gives people a taste of something meaningful and we know that we now have a connection with something that will live on far longer than the flesh that sits on our bones. it sits briefly and then fades the same way our memory of this place will fade. And now as the revolutions have begun to turn in all aspects of life turn around and as the dust fades and blends into everything else our handprint on the statue dissolves and is brushed into another. as we pass through the eyes of the louve we push past thousands and thousands of strangers whose eyes are far more alive than the ones on the wall and may be more immortal than what any painting can portray.
Would i learn more by staring into some of thier eyes?
or is is just to abstract to grasp, and is it always easier to stare at the wall?
the louve just seems to be a preserved mountain lake where people go to see their shadows and ignore their reflections when theyre there.
and in light of this it seems only fit that upon exiting the majestic Louve i found myself staring at a fountain, while standing in the rain....
5 comments:
Bryant! First off, I love your poetic writing style. Second, you are very insightful. I'm surprised that you decided to write about the Louvre, but was glad when you tied in literature like the Bronte's or Wordsworth. I like how you commented on all of the rushing through the musuem. I feel like the Louvre should be a place to relax and casually walk through to reflect on others' greatness, but that was not an option with the large crowds and the limited time in such a large place. It's nice to know that you got something out of the whole experience, rather than just saying "Wow, I saw the Monna Lisa!"
I agree with Melissa in that I wish I had been able to spend more time just wandering instead of rushing. By the time I found the works that I really felt connected to, it was almost time for us to be moving on. When you try to see so much in such a short period of time you do turn into almost a zombie letting the artwork simply wash over you instead of really absorbing what it has to say.
-Tish
When we got to the Louvre, I was astonished by its size. I always knew it was a huge museum but I didn’t realize how much so until I was there in person. I also learned that it if we looked at every piece of work for 1 second, it would take 3 months to see everything! I did not know that fact, so I was glad to hear it before entering the museum. I realized that I needed to narrow down my options and find what I enjoyed the most. When I was walking through the Louvre, I heard someone say, “Would people still go to the Louvre Museum if the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samathrace and the Venus de Milo did not reside there?” I think that it would still be a great museum, but not quite as great.
Movie stars, singers, and a myriad of celebrities come and go. Our concept of talent and beauty tend to be quite fickle, but Mona stays. So, this is one reason why people go to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa - at least once, in person. I’ve heard before that I may be disappointed. However, she’s been around since the 1500s and that’s a quite a track record. Of all his paintings, Leonardo chose to lug Mona along with him from Italy to King Francois I’s French court. Francois obviously liked the painting and kept it as the centerpiece of his collection. She’s been here ever since. So, if anyone ever needs any convincing about the importance of going to the Louvre, I hope this settles the issue. But there’s more, about 35,000 more reasons to visit the Louvre. This is the approximate number of works of art and artifacts that can be seen at the Louvre (the entire collection holds over 300,000 individual pieces) and its treasures are not limited to Western civilizations alone.
It was definitely best to remember that we can’t see it all, so pacing myself and really taking in a few good pieces is how I got the most out of my visit.
Bryant I thought you actually had grounds when you noted on my spelling and word errors. Yet, I should not rank on you here, but most certainly after Im done writing this. Freud said, "immorality is being admired by countless strangers you do not know", or something like that. However, as we have been arguing in this class, this definition of immortality also allows countless people you do not know, i.e. tourists, to recognize you as great. The louve, though I have not been there, probably abets this deprication of brilliant men. I think Shakespeare, Bronte, and other great authors would rather their names be mortal and humble for other people, so that those others can keep the ball rolling. To do this one needs to almost, creatively, kill the immortal idols and devalue their divinity. Otherwise, as Freud said but probably did not recognize, the future generation of humans will remain, as said, strangers.
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