Thursday, June 14, 2012
Paris, France
Bonjour!
NEH Session on the Papon Trial:
Fascinating would be an understatement. During our NEH session this morning, Prof. Henri Russo of the IHTP (Institute Pour Histoire Du Temps Present) gave a superb overview of the Maurice Papon Trial that was held in 1998 in Bordeaux. He was tried for crimes against humanity and after a sensational 6 month long trial, was convicted. With clips from archival footage of the trial, Russo delineated the complicated issues that stretched the trial on and, like the O.J. Simpson case in the US, made celebrities of the advocates in France. I was held riveted by the various nuances of the case, in particular, the references to the bending of courtroom regulations and the ignoring of protocol that the judge in the case permitted. To help me understand the matter even more deeply, I am currently reading Richard Golsan’s introduction to the book entitled Maurice Papon and Crimes Against Humanity in France.
Its amazing how when you have a compelling speaker, time simply flies. Before we knew it, it was well past 1.00 pm. I am looking forward now to hearing Golsan espouse his views on the manner in which France continues to pursue her citizens who were associated with the Holocaust or the regime known as ‘Vichy France’–those who collaborated with the Nazis to round up and deport French Jews to the concentration camps.
Off to Discover the Cluny Museum:
With the afternoon at my disposal and a suggestion from my French colleague Alain to go out and discover the Lady and the Unicorn series of tapestries at the Cluny Museum, I rode the metro to St. Michel and found myself right opposite the ruins of the Gallo-Roman Baths upon which the spectacular mansion (or Hotel Cluny) that houses Paris’ brilliant collection of medieval art is stored. But my tummy was rumbling, so I did sit in the little garden just in front of it to munch on my smoked salmon and arugula salad sandwich before I made my way into the Museum. I should make it clear that although it is still colloquially known as the Cluny Museum, its real name is the Musee du Moyen Age (Museum of the Middle Ages) et Thermes de Cluny (Cluny Baths)
One more word about the building: It is just gorgeous–a Gothic style mansion in the midst of the city of Paris can only stop you in your tracks. This has the works: turrets, gargoyles, leaded glass windows, stone staircases and a lovely cobbled courtyard entrance as well. I was given free entry (with my Metropolitan Museum ID card–regular entrance is 8. 50 euros). I picked up a copy of the extensive museum plan in English which was wonderfully detailed and contains a bunch of pictures. And off I went.
The Museum is divided into rooms (culled out of the original rooms of the mansion). It has a number of highlights but the ones that caught my eye were the Heads of the Kings in The Gallery of Kings. These were originally carved around the main facade of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. After the cathedral was vandalized in the 1700s–the heads were separated from the bodies–they were strewn all over the Parvis and were ultimately buried somewhere. They were found two hundred years later during excavations. Meanwhile, a whole new set of Kings were created and they currently stand on the cathedral’s facade. The kings were meant to be viewed from a great height by people standing way down below in the Parvis, Hence, their heads are deliberately elongated–like the subjects of Modigliani’s paintings. The sculpture of Adam (with a huge fig leaf–and I mean huge–covering strategic parts–in the same gallery is also rather striking.
The museum has been ingeniously created around the former Roman Baths and the Frigidarium or cold water bath forms a very good backdrop for a series of sculpture including the Pillar of the Nantes. There are some wonderful sculptures to be found all over in marble, stone, alabaster, wood–although a great many of them are in very poor shape.
The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries:
However, the Museum is best known for the Lady and the Unicorn set of Tapestries of which my friend Alain had spoken. These were woven in the mid-1400s and were only really discovered in the middle of this century in a castle in Creuse when the female French writer who took the pen-name George Sand publicized them. In a perfectly constructed rounded gallery, to show them off to their best advantage, the six tapestries that make up this series, are displayed under very dim light. They are simply marvelous. When I was undergoing my year-long training in Art History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, many moons ago, I had learned that a weaver working eight hours through the day would have completed a portion no bigger than a postage stamp. I simply could not begin to imagine how much time and effort it would have taken to create the huge tapestries that the Museum boasts.
They feature a beautiful lady (dressed in spectacular robes) and her maid surrounded by a menagerie of animals in a fantastic fabled landscape. All of them include a Unicorn–a mythological animal that appears in many medieval paintings and tapestries as allegories of the unattainable. The six depictions conform with the five senses–the Lady is shown tasting a sweet from a proffered tray (Taste), listening to her maid play a harp (Hearing), looking at a reflection of the unicorn in a mirror (Sight), sniffing a freshly-plucked rose from a proffered basket (Smell) and patting the unicorn’s horn (Touch). The sixth tapestry is the only one that has a line of text that reads: Mon Seul Desire (My Only Desire). This has come to be interpreted as Love and Understanding although some critics refer to it as Sixth Sense–Conscience–that warns us against committing wrong. Regardless of how one wishes to interpret the iconography in the series, they are simply amazing. The wealth of detail boggles the mind–the background which includes a plethora of flora and fauna and a stunning range of colors–derived from the use of vegetable dyes–have remained as fresh as the day they were woven. It is little wonder that visitors spend the longest time in this quiet room and have almost turned it into a shrine for silent contemplation.
Other items that appealed to me are:
1. The Books of Hours–both large and miniature of which the museum can boast. The illuminations in all of them are breathtaking.
2. The Flemish miniature wooden altarpiece that was completely reminiscent of one of my favorite paintings of all time: Rogier van der Weyden’s Deposition from the Cross (which is in the Prado in Madrid).
3. The Chapel (which is the original chapel from the Hotel Cluny) whose Gothic carvings are just incredible. Fan vaulting on the ceiling and thickly carved pillar supports.
4. A painting of the Deposition from the Cross taken from a church in Avignon.
5. The Golden Rose of Basel–made by goldsmith Minucchio da Siena for the Avignon Pope John XXII.
I spent almost three hours viewing the museum’s treasures and when I left these were my thoughts:
–I can’t believe I have never seen this museum before.
–Granted my stays in Paris in the past have been shorter…but still
–I wonder why I have always rushed to the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay when this museum has such exquisite exhibits to offer.
–I wish more people would put this museum on their priority list and try not to miss it.
–I shall instruct everyone visiting Paris to make time for this museum (just as I now insist that everyone going to Paris should see the Church of Saint Chapelle).
Sauntering Around the Sorbonne:
Since it was still bright daylight at 4.30 pm, I climbed the hill leading to the Sorbonne with the intention of taking a guided tour of the university. At the Welcome Reception Desk, I was informed that tours are given only once a month on Saturdays and need to be booked well in advance. The tour for June is full-up and the one is July does not take place until after I have left. Hard luck! I guess I must keep something to be done the next time I am here.
However, I was allowed to wander into the main courtyard and, boy, was that astounding! In an absolute gem of Classical architecture, the courtyard rises around the dome of the dominating church built by Cardinal Richelieu when he was in-charge of the college. His tomb in the church is said to be a stunning piece of work–but the church is opened only on very rare occasions (and, I suppose, during guided tours). The two more contemporary sculptures are those of Victor Hugo and Louis Pasteur who sit brooding against the backdrop of the Church. In the corridor at the far end, are arresting frescoes.
Tours also take folks to the Astronomy Tower of which I could only see a tiny bit from the Sorbonne Square when I walked outside and sat myself down besides the very modern fountains. It was a gorgeous evening and the square was full. One of the most handsome couples I have ever seen (I mean the girl was a knockout and the guy was better than any GQ model) asked me to take their picture against the front facade of the church which is Romanesque. These architectural wonders have me by the throat and everywhere I turn I want to take pictures of every stone that has made this city such a showpiece.
Passing by The Pantheon:
If you climb further up the hill from Sorbonne Square, you pass two very handsome buildings that happen to be two of the most prestigious private high schools in Paris and the breeding ground of the country’s future leaders. One of them is Louis Le Grand. Still further up the hill, you will suddenly come upon the grand square of the Pantheon and the monumental building itself that was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, of course. The neo-Classical Greek pillars of the Church rise to a triangular pediment with a splendid carved frieze (like the one on the Acropolis). This church was built to house the remains of France’s most illustrious sons and daughters after they have been given a state funeral. Because Llew and I had visited it, three years ago, and had done a thorough examination of its awesome painted interiors (featuring scenes from the life of St. Genevieve, Patron Saint of Paris) and had actually climbed up all the way to the dome for scintillating views of the city, I do not feel the need to re-visit it. However, I did take a ton of pictures of its exterior.
In The Church of St. Etienne du Mond:
Well, we had been inside the Pantheon on our last visit, but not to the Church of St. Etienne du Mond which is just besides it–so, of course, in I went, this time round. There is a lovely sculpture of the French writer Corneille in the traffic island just next to the church which creates a nice visual backdrop for his figure.
Inside, the church– like so many churches here–is just jaw-dropping. Rather unusually, there is a carved marble rood screen right in front and very close to the altar. Minute carvings all over it make it highly decorative. Inside, in a side chapel, is the famous Shrine of St. Genevieve which is visited even today by pilgrims and was especially prayed at by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Paris. There is a beautiful stained glass window above a golden reliquary which contains relics of the saint. Just abutting it is a very ornate sarcophagus which encloses the tombstone upon which her body had been laid. St. Genevieve has a very special significance for Parisians and this church, being so closely associated with her, is of utmost importance to them.
I spent some time in silent prayer, then walked down the hill to a bus stop and found one that brought me straight to St. Michel and on the RER home. I really do enjoy these bus rides as I am learning the geography of the city through them and becoming very familiar with its nooks and crannies. Although I absolutely love walking in the city, I have to admit that I feel very fatigued and my feet and my knees simply hate the idea of pounding the pavements as much as I have been doing. The buses are proving to be a real boon as I can hop on and off them at will and take the weight off my feet whenever I feel as if they have had just a little too much.
I got home in time for tea and to take a nice hot shower and get organized for more sight seeing tomorrow. I don’t think I shall ever tire of this fascinating city.
A demain!