Magpies, Squirrels and Thieves Read Online Free PDF

ateliers finished every day at midday, leaving afternoons free. And not far from his lodgings were the high-ceilinged galleries and wide courtyards of the Palais du Louvre. It was there that Robinson discovered for the first time the bold, flourishing masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, da Vinci’s
Mona Lisa
; Raphael’s angels and demons; Titian’s elegiac nudes; bronzes, busts and sculptures by Michelangelo. For a young man from the Midlands, idealistic and lonely, slightly homesick and desperate to succeed, these works of art were both overwhelming and seductive. Robinson developed an interest in the Renaissance that would endure for the rest of his life. The history and beauty of the masterpieces of the past permeated deep into his understanding until he felt the physical tingle of them in the cool breath of the galleries, the magnificent colours and full forms imprinting themselves unforgettably on his mind’s eye.
    Robinson spent as many hours with the dead artists of theLouvre as with the living ones of Montmartre, and it was there, rather than in his studio, that he metamorphosed from a gauche young man into an erudite connoisseur. With its history as a royal palace, the Louvre was spectacular and ornate. The building had dominated the centre of Paris since the twelfth century, developing from a fortress to a sumptuous expression of imperial power. In 1674, the French king, Louis XIV, moved the permanent court to Versailles, and by the end of the seventeenth century the Louvre buildings were starting a new life as home to a gallery of antique sculpture as well as the Académie Française, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, the last of which launched a series of popular annual exhibitions, or salons. Visitors came from the French political and academic elite, and the activities within the Louvre were held up as a shining example of the nation’s cultural pre-eminence and prestige. But the hierarchical structures of the Académies, as well as the yearly salons, clearly promoted the established interests of the ruling minority and the Louvre remained closed to all but a handful of visitors.
    A century later, however, the French Revolution changed the old systems of power and reinvented its strongholds. The emphasis now at the Louvre was on creating a national collection that belonged to the people and an institution that was open to everyone. Masterpieces ‘which were previously visible to only a privileged few. . . will henceforth afford pleasure to all: statues, paintings and books are charged with the sweat of the people: the property of the people will be returned to them,’ asserted Abbé Grégoire, one of the most influential Republican leaders. 2 The Louvre began a long period of development as a genuinely public site, opening in 1793 as the Musée Central des Arts, displaying paintings which had been confiscated from royal and aristocratic families, including the
Mona Lisa
. Admission was free, and largeamounts of state money and energy were devoted to building collections that would be esteemed throughout France and beyond.
    In practice, it was not always easy for the newly empowered citizens to view their artistic heritage: at the beginning of its life, the museum was only open to the public at weekends, and artists were always given priority over ordinary visitors. But gradually more of the building was opened as the French collections expanded, and extensions were also added to create more gallery space. The Louvre was as important to the Republic as a symbol of state power as it had been to the monarchy as a royal palace. Its public collections signified national unity and the regeneration of the people, while the display of the nation’s new-found artistic wealth was also a means of displaying the political success of the new government; it was hoped that the galleries would forge a