Keep Good Company

March 27, 2021 4:06 PM

Louvre puts entire collection online: ici and here.

Related: Louvre probes its collection for Nazi and colonial loot in massive provenance research project

posted by chavenet (21 comments total)

This is fantastic - both the online collections, and the ongoing attempts to return works to their rightful owners.

I am always so glad to know about museums making their collections more accessible to those of us who can't visit them. Thank you so much for posting this, chavenet!
posted by kristi at 5:13 PM on March 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

This is awesome. I spent a day seeing The Whole Louvre about a decade ago, and because of the spatial way my brain works, I can remember where in the museum certain pieces were, even if I've forgotten what they were called. And also because of the way my brain works, I was able to open the map view and immediately zero in on the tackiest thing I remember from the Louvre. You're welcome!
posted by phooky at 5:47 PM on March 27, 2021 [12 favorites]

Good Company.
posted by Splunge at 5:56 PM on March 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

Portrait de révolutionnaire : Georges Jacques Danton
I haven't seen these.

Destruction de la statue équestre de Louis XIV place Vendôme.

sweet.
posted by clavdivs at 7:38 PM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

Merci beaucoup!
posted by kinnakeet at 8:27 PM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

BRB, NFTing all the things.
posted by turbowombat at 8:47 PM on March 27, 2021 [8 favorites]

That's great. I hope that I can find this one painting that I saw in a book once. It was this portrait of a lady, and she's kind of smiling, but kind of not? You know what I mean? Eh, it's probably pretty obscure.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:14 PM on March 27, 2021 [6 favorites]

I know the one you mean. It's near that white marble statue of that buff guy, well built (in most areas). By Mikey Something.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 10:20 PM on March 27, 2021 [4 favorites]

You mean this one? I think they keep that just down the road from the Louvre.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:34 PM on March 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

I think it's probably her
posted by Jacen at 10:38 PM on March 27, 2021 [4 favorites]

it's crazy that a collection as vast (for obvious colonial reasons) as the Louvre is known for a cereal box sized portrait.
posted by Wilder at 12:05 AM on March 28, 2021 [7 favorites]

Consider making time to find (currently appears to be elusive) and watch the excellent 2014 documentary: The Man Who Saved The Louvre (trailer).
posted by fairmettle at 12:40 AM on March 28, 2021 [6 favorites]

This is fantastic but some have light glare that is worse than a cell phone. Not complaining just surprised.
posted by sammyo at 5:23 AM on March 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

It will only feel real for me if the mona lisa throws a too many connections error at me just like it did in person.
posted by srboisvert at 7:15 AM on March 28, 2021 [7 favorites]

This is awesome. I spent a day seeing The Whole Louvre about a decade ago, and because of the spatial way my brain works, I can remember where in the museum certain pieces were, even if I've forgotten what they were called. And also because of the way my brain works, I was able to open the map view and immediately zero in on the tackiest thing I remember from the Louvre. You're welcome!
posted by phooky at 5:47 PM

Phooky - that's hilarious. The way the light shines on the pedestal almost makes it looks like gold feet.
posted by bluesky43 at 7:28 AM on March 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is fantastic but some have light glare that is worse than a cell phone.

Yeah this is clearly a cataloging effort and not a high-resolution capture project. Some were clearly just yanked from the basement for a quick snap and back they go. C''est la vie de art history grad intern I suppose.
posted by Think_Long at 7:39 AM on March 28, 2021 [2 favorites]

Yeah, resolution should be higher. I'm tempted to send them some photos of my favourite sculpture because the last time I was by, I may have taken over a hundred...
posted by I claim sanctuary at 8:04 AM on March 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

fairmettle's excellent documentary rec can be found on YouTube in sections (example).
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:01 AM on March 28, 2021 [3 favorites]

If you knew how some of us had been relying on grainy photos from the 50s for some of the stuff in storage, the glare would bother you less. It is that hard to get images of some of the lesser known material that will likely not ever be exhibited.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 9:18 AM on March 28, 2021 [4 favorites]

This is very obvious in hindsight, but although the search interface is available in English, it is searching French text. So, uhh, bear that in mind if, like me, your first few searches don't turn up any results.
posted by jedicus at 9:49 AM on March 28, 2021 [3 favorites]

Came for Le Lion de Florence, was not disappointed.
posted by mazola at 10:04 AM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]