We went to the Louvre to see the Jacques-Louis David exhibition. David was France’s most important painter during the Revolution and Napoleonic period. The exhibition shows his history and how he worked through the most turbulent period of French history.

We booked tickets for 10 am and arrived at 9:30 only to find an unbelievably long queue because the entrance started late and so many people had booked for 9 am. We figured this out and got in the queue at 10 but did not get into the museum until 11.

The exhibition was a comprehensive history of David’s career which started with his rejection of the Academic style of Poussin and adopting the realism of Caravaggio. He was unflattering in his portraits.

But his career was formed by his political convictions and he found his first major success in his history paintings.

The exhibition also included his sketches done as studies for his major works.

He was an active supporter of the Revolution and Robespierre. His painting of The Death of Marat became a symbol as one of the martyrs for the ideals of the revolution.

The exhibition shows how he started works but the events moved so rapidly that David often did not finish works he was commissioned to paint. The Oath of the Tennis Court is the prime example.

As French society started to fracture with the changing politics, his painting of the Intervention of the Sabine Women, a mythical event where the women stopped war, was also popular for its call for peace.

David thought Napoleon was the action hero who would save France and his portrayals won him official commissions.

David’s portrayal of Napoleon in a less than flattering light eventually resulted in no further commissions although David supported Napoleon until the end. With the restoration of the monarchy, David, as someone who voted for the death of the king, was exiled. He chose to live out his life in Brussels. This was his last painting.

We went for lunch at Cafe Marly, which is located in the Louvre complex but requires leaving the museum. It has been one of our favourite restaurants in Paris.

After lunch, Scott returned to the hotel but I wanted to return to the Louvre. Unfortunately, the ticket does not allow re-entry so I had to buy another ticket.

I went to see the Italian paintings. The Louvre has a good collection of Fra Angelico paintings which were not part of the Beato Angelico exhibition in Florence.

The Louvre’s Italian collection is excellent. Not just the Leonardo da Vinci paintings:

also Veronese

Titian

Raphael

Pontormo

Caravaggio (of course)

Mantegna

Antonello da Messina

Uccello

Piero della Francesca

Botticelli

and on the same floor are great French paintings such as Delacroix’s

Gericault

and British paintings like some by Turner

Gainsborough

I did not even manage to look at all the French paintings.

The Louvre has three wings each with at least three levels. I only looked at one level in one wing for over two and a half hours and did not see everything. The size of the Louvre is not manageable for one visit. They have a good amount of seating so I paused to sketch for about 10-15 minutes in front of Caravaggio.

For dinner, we trudged through the rain to Au Pieds de Cochon. The restaurant is a bit touristy and the food only okay.