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Louvre entrance area

One objective for this trip was to go to the Louvre. My two previous trips have either been too busy or the weather has seemed to be too nice to go inside. This time in we went on a Friday, mid-afternoon. The Louvre is open until 2130 on Fridays, so by mid afternoon it is a little quieter, but only a little. The main entrance area under the Pyramid is heaving.

The Denon Wing houses the Italian and Spanish paintings from the 15th and 16th Centuries. This includes the Mona Lisa and many other masterpieces. It is a tough wing to explore. The paintings are sometimes 3 high and the lighting hardly ideal especially if one’s eyesight is as poor as mine becomes.

The Mona Lisa is appropriately displayed in the middle of a large room. There are a lot of people trying to get to see her, made all the more difficult by the fact that the painting is so small. In Leonardo terms, we should be grateful that he finished the painting and it survives. The other Leonardo painting in the Louvre – The Lady from the Court in Milan, La Belle Ferronnaire – had no visitors when we passed by. Though it may be that it was actually done by an apprentice. Equally beguiling, from my own untrained eye.

Constable's Weymouth Bay

The gallery containing the Italian and Spanish art is long, very long. Right at the bottom, unexpectedly, one finds a small English enclave. There are two Constables nestling there. I took a picture of Weymouth Bay whilst no one was looking.