French Nationalism and Romanticism at Musee du Louvre

From Paris Hotels Reviews

Running parallel to the Grande Galerie are two giant rooms dedicated to post-Revolution French Nationalism and early to mid-nineteenth-century Romanticism. The plan labels this section “large-format French paintings”, and is features of the best-known French works. The Salle Mollien (room 75) boasts David’s epic Coronation of Napoleon I, in which Napoleon is shown crowning himself with a rather crestfallen clergy in the background; almost unbelievably, David conceived this work as part of a much larger composition. Nearby are some fine potraits of women, including Prud’hon’s Leonardo-like Josephine in the Park at Malmaison, some compelling perfect canvases by Ingres and a self-portrait (with her daughter) by Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Lebrum, the court artist to Marie-Antoinette.

In the Salle Daru (room 77), Romanticism is heralded by Géricault’s dramatic Raft of the Medusa, based on a notorious incident off the coast of Senegal in 1816. The survivors are seen despairing as a ship disappears over the horizon – as a survivor described it, “from the delirium of joy we fell into profound despondency and grief”. The fifteen shown here were the last of 150 shipwrecked sailors who had escaped on the raft – thirst, murder and cannibalism having carried off the rest. The dead figure lying face down with his arm extended was modeled by Delacroix, whose Liberty Leading the People also hangs in the room; Delacroix’s work is a famous icon of revolution, though you can tell by the hats that it depicts the 1830 revolution, which brought in the “bourgeois king” Louis-Philippe, rather than that of 1789. On seeing the painting, Louis-Philippe promptly ordered it kept out of sight so as not to give anyone dangerous idea.