Intro
We just finished our first week of class in Paris today! It has been a blur, but so incredibly fun. From Monday up through today, we have had a lot of really incredible excursions for class, however, in this blog post I decided to focus on what we did in class Tuesday, and my next blog post will go over what we did Wednesday, and maybe some of today (Thursday) if I’m feeling a bit wild.
Musee de Cluny
First, pretend there are proper accents whenever I spell something in French because I never learned how to use the keyboard controls to get it, and am too lazy to look it up.
I have to be honest, medieval history is not my favorite, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the Musee de Cluny. In particular, I thought the tapestries of the Lady of the Unicorn were quite interesting in how they portrayed the five senses. The way the senses were represented was done in a way that, at least in my opinion, the message was not the most explicit. However, once picking up on even one of the tapestries that it was a sense, all the others became relatively clear. I found the sight and hearing tapestries to be the most explicit, and once seeing that I could somewhat gather what the others were. It was just very cool to see how people back in medieval times perceived senses and that has continued today. Furthermore, I enjoyed the discussion we had about the importance of tapestries in heating up a space. Until this week, I had always assumed they were purely for decoration, and while that is definitely a function, the idea that they were used to help insulate spaces was a really fun fact.
More on the preservation side, I was super impressed by how well-preserved the tapestries are. I know the pigments have faded over time, but they were still pretty vibrant in my opinion. Especially the red, I can’t imagine what it looked like in its prime, it must have been such a strong color. Now a bit off-topic, I’m going to insert this picture I took of the unicorn on the “Taste” tapestry because the side-eye this fool was giving was intense.
The other main part of the museum I got a kick out of was the space that used to be Roman baths. I believe that was the first time I saw Roman “ruins” or architecture that wasn’t below ground since I have yet to visit Italy and all the European countries (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands) I visited last year had their Roman structures completely built over. I know this is a common occurrence in Europe, so I was surprised that the baths remained uncovered. As for the architecture, I mean, what is there to say? The Romans are just awesome and such impressive engineers. Our construction today makes me so depressed when I see buildings like the Roman baths withstanding the test of time for centuries, and then our modern-day construction is so cheaply made. Also, the acoustics in the baths were 10/10.
Sainte Chapelle
Okay, so just a heads up, I’m not really going to talk about the Conciergerie even though we went Tuesday since, like Smith mentioned, with the pop-up exhibition, you couldn’t get a full view of how impressive the space is, although the architecture was stellar (of course).
First, I want to mention how I found the fact that the Sainte Chapelle has a second full floor fascinating. Last summer, my mom and I saw many chapels and cathedrals, and almost all of them were just one huge space, at least with the cathedrals, or if there was an upper level, it was either for an organ or seating that was along the perimeter of the interior. Therefore, it was cool to see how the Sainte Chapelle was layout so that a common mass could be held on the lower, less grand level, and the second floor could be saved for esteemed guests and the king. I guess the architecture of the Sainte Chapelle is a strong example of how the King of France was the figurehead of the Church since they were “chosen” by God. Also, after looking up a bit more about the Sainte Chapelle, it was mentioned that the chapel was built in seven years which is just so insane to me.
While the stained glass is definitely a star of the show, I also just wanted to mention how cool the wallpaper is on the upper level. Throughout the second floor, the wallpaper is detailed to look textured, or ruched. It was just a neat detail I noticed and feel gets overlooked by the impressive stained glass. I absolutely adore small details like this, it just shows the amount of attention to detail there was. I felt the same way looking at the stone carvings in the entryway from the balcony to the second floor, especially since I could recognize the scenes depicted. Whereas with the stained glass, since it is further from eye height, it is hard to observe all its details. With the stone carvings, I was able to make out scenes such as Adam and Eve, the birth of Jesus, and Noah’s Arc.
Overall, Tuesday was packed with a lot of interesting activities, and I’m excited to share my thoughts on the excursions that occurred Wednesday and Thursday. 🙂
