Moderator's Note: This thread was split from the "Best Paintings at the Met" thread.


Okay, now you've got me started:

"Best Paintings in Paris" (in my humble opinion...)

In the Louvre, "Botticelli's Spring", a detail of which is shown here.

In the Musee d'Orsay, A Bouguereau entitled "Night". I can't attach it because it's a nude. I also can't find an image of it on the web. It's part of a series and you can do a Google image search on the words Bouguereau and Evening if you want to see one that is very similar.

Impressionism before impressionism
 

This one was painted by Rembrandt, 17th century.

Peter, I copied that little Rembrandt when I was 14 years old and was given four tubes of oil paint for my birthday. It was my first painting. What a thrill it is to see my inspiration on-line! Thank you.

The Raft of the Medusa (by Gericault)
 

This is a big painting (at the Louve; my web source says 16' x 23'). "Sensational" is probably the right word to describe the effect of sitting in front of it.

Even more sensational is the true story behind "The Raft of the Medusa".

The Medusa was a ship captained by an incompetent government official. It crashed on rocks and there weren't enough life boats. Many people crowded on this raft where they drifted for days (weeks?). There was murder and cannibalism as people fought to survive.

The moment that the artist, Gericault, chose to depict was the instant when they spotted the rescue ship in the distance (off to the right, on the horizon) which came to save the remaining survivors.

When this painting was first exhibited it indeed caused a sensation in society, as people railed against the government incompetence that had caused the disaster.

Delacroix
 

Did you know the man posing for this figure was the painter Delacroix?

"The Raft of the Medusa" is showing at the Minneapolis Institute of Art right now, through September 8 (if I remember right.) I saw it there last month. It is truly awe inspiring just to stand in front of it. What they have on display is an exact copy made not long after the original was painted - the original is too fragile to be moved. They say the copy shows detail that can't be seen on the original because of deterioration.