AlandscapecopperetchingbyRembrandtHarmenszoonvanRijn,producedin1640.©MuséeduLouvre,Dist.RMN-GrandPalais/MartineBeck-CoppolaAculturaliconofFrance,theLouvreMuseumisnowverypopularwithChinesepeople.ChinesetouristshavebecomethesecondlargestforeigngrouptovisittheLouvrewith820,000tripsin2015,trailingonlythosefromtheUnitedStates.TobettersatisfyChinesedemandforLouvreart,theLouvreandtheNationalMuseumofChinaarejointlyholdingtheexhibition“L’inventionduLouvre”intheNationalMuseumofChinainBeijing,whichdisplays126treasuresthatcreateatimelineofthehistoryoftheLouvre.
Theexhibitionisdividedintofiveparts:TheRoyalPalaceandRoyalCollection,theLouvreandtheEnlightenmentMovement,theNapoleonMuseum,theRoyalPalacetotheWorldMuseum,andToday’sLouvre.
French“ForbiddenCity”
“Forcenturies,justliketheForbiddenCityinBeijing,theLouvrewasthemainresidenceoftheroyalfamily,”explainsFrenchco-curatorNéguineMathieux.“Itwasanostentatiousplaceofpowerandart.ThisexhibitionrecountsthebirthofthefirstuniversalmuseumattheendoftheFrenchRevolution.”
ThehistoryoftheLouvredatesbacktotheendofthe12thCenturywhenPhilipIIbuilttheLouvreTower,amilitarydefenseproject,ontherightbankoftheSeine.Thatprojectwasgraduallyexpandedintoaroyalpalace.DuringtheValoisDynasty(13281589),FrancisIwasobsessedwithartfromtheItalianRenaissanceaswellasNorthernEuropeanrealism.Inhiswake,Frenchkingsacrosstheagestendedtobuyorcommissionarttodemonstratetheirindividualtaste.HeavilyinfluencedbytheEnlightenmentMovement,theLouvreofficiallybecameamuseumandwasopenedtothepublicin1793.Theroyalcollectionofthepalacenaturallybecamethenationalcollection.Napoleonandhissuccessorscontributedgreatlytoexpandingthemuseum’scollection.Sincethe19thCentury,theLouvrehasbecomeatreasuretroveofworldart.Tothisday,theLouvreisstillexpandingitscollectionwithdonationsfromgenerouscollectors.
The126treasuresexhibitedilluminatethehistoryoftheLouvre,showinghowaprivateroyalpalacebecameagloballyrenownedpublicmuseum.“ChinesepeoplehavebecomeoneofthemostimportantandbiggestgroupsvisitingtheLouvre,”stressesanothercurator,PascalTorres.“AndtheLouvreissospecial.ItholdsthegreatestcollectionofpreciousrelicsandartfromtheperiodbeforetheFrenchRevolution.WehopethatthisexhibitiontracingthehistoryoftheLouvreandintroducingthecategorizationofthemuseum’scollectioncanhelpChinesevisitorsbetterpreparetheirvisitstotheLouvre.”
AnoilpaintingbyFrenchartistJacquesLouisDavid,producedin1771.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/PhilippeFuzeau
AnancientGreekhorseheaddatingbackto510BC.©MuséeduLouvre,Dist.RMN-GrandPalais/DanielLebée/CarineDéambrosis
AbronzestatueofLouisXIV.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/ThierryOllivier
Anagatecupwithaliddatingbacktothe1640s.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/Jean-GillesBerizzi
AsculptureoffamousFrenchfabulistJeandelaFontaine,producedin1785.©MuséeduLouvre,Dist.RMN-GrandPalais/ThierryOllivierCreativeLouvre
“TheexhibitionisajourneyintoFrenchhistory,”remarksNéguineMathieux.“Butalso,Paris,theroyalcourtandtheuniversalmuseumwereallveryimportantartcenters,sothisexhibitionisjustasmuchajourneyintothehistoryofoccidentalart.”
Theexhibition’stheme,“L’inventionduLouvre,”wasinspiredbyDenisDiderot,aFrenchphilosopherandwriter.Heproposedtheconceptof“L’inventionduLouvre”inhisbookEncyclopédie,whichhecoinedinhonorofthecontributionsofÉtienneLaFontdeSaint-Yenne,France’searliestcritic,tothebirthoftheLouvre.
InSaint-Yenne’stime,LouisXIVmovedintothePalaceofVersailles.HedesertedtheLouvreandplannedtodemolishit.In1750,LouisXVofficiallyenactedaplantoteardownthepalacebutfailedduetoalackoffundstohiremanpower.Atthatimpasse,ÉtienneLaFontdeSaintYennesuggestedthattheroyalcollectionatVersaillesbemovedtotheLouvre,whichthenwouldn’tneedtoberenovatedordemolished.HelobbiedfortheintactpartoftheLouvretobeopenedtothepublicasamuseum.Atthattime,suchapropositionwasconsideredrevolutionary.
“TheLouvrewasactuallyinventedandconceived,”explainsPascalTorres.“Opentopeoplefromaroundtheworld,themuseumradiatesaspiritthatinspiredtheselectionofexhibits.WhetherthecrownjewelfromtheprivatecollectionofLouisXIV,artworksfromthetimeofFrancisIorthestatueofHenryII,whenweselecteditemsforthisexhibition,wetriedtoconveytheideaof‘invent’and‘conceive.’”AjadestatueofEmperorAugustusofAncientRome.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/MartineBeck-Coppola
Astonestatueofalion,datingbacktothefirstcenturyAD.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/HervéLewandowski
AMingDynasty(1368-1644)vasefromabout1640.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeGuimet,Paris)/ThierryOllivier
AnEgyptianwoodenfigure,datingfrom1295-1069BC.©MuséeduLouvre,Dist,RMN-GrandPalais/HervéLewandowskiTailoredforChina
Itwasn’teasytoselectonly126exhibitsfromthe38,000treasuresintheLouvre.“The126piecesintheexhibitionwerechosenforthehistorytheytellusaboutthepalaceandthemuseum,”saysNéguineMathieux.Theychoseexhibitsbasednotonschoolorgenre,butonthehistoricalperiodsoftheLouvretheyrepresent.
CuratorsalsoselectedsomeexhibitsespeciallyfortheChineseaudience.“ItisapleasuretobringbacktoChinasomeChineseobjectsthatweremadeinthe17thCenturyandbroughttoFranceduringthatperiod,whichwererecentlydiscoveredduringthearchaeologicalexcavationsorganizedfortheconstructionoftheLouvrePyramid.”
IntheIslamicartsection,curatorschoseaMughalEmpirepiecedecoratedwithjade,whichisaniconicmaterialinChineseculture.AndtheconciseshapeofanancientGreekhorseheadisreminiscentofitsancientChinesecounterpart.
ButthemostfamiliarworkstotheChineseaudience,likeMonaLisaandVenusdeMilo,didn’tmakeitintotheexhibition.FrenchcuratorsaffirmthatitisrareforthemostpreciousitemsevertobemovedoutoftheLouvre.“Wearegratefulforeverythingtheybrought,”saysChineseco-curatorYangGuimei.“ThisexhibitionisnotjustaboutarttreasuresbutthebirthoftheLouvre,aworld-classartpalace.Combiningbeautyandhistoryisagreatwaytofostercommunicationbetweenourtwonationalmuseums.”Partofawalldecorationdatingfromabout522-486BC.©MuséeduLouvre,Dist.RMN-GrandPalais/ThierryOllivier
AnoilpaintingbyAnthonyvanDyck,datingfrom1617-1619.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/StéphaneMaréchalle
AnEgyptianpapyrusscrollpainting,datingfrom378-341BC.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/ChristianLarrieu
AcarpetdesignedbyFrancoisDebret,datingfrom1807-1810.©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre)/Droitsréservés