Join staff and community members for next First Thursday Book Discussion at noon on August 7 in the Columbia Public Library to talk about “Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love With the World’s Greatest Museum.”
The title sounds like it could be the next hot mystery from Dan Brown, à la “The Da Vinci Code.” Instead “Adventures in Louvre,” by Elaine Sciolino is a lively nonfiction account of the famous Parisian museum. By the end, you will understand why the Louvre, the artworks within, and the history without have inspired such a dazzling variety of passionate responses ranging from Beyonce and Jay-Z’s 2018 viral music video (explicit content) to a 1909 protest threatening to burn or flood the museum.
The beauty of Sciolino’s book is the breadth of subjects she investigates and relays to the reader. Even without the art, the building itself, is a labyrinth of history and intrigue. Trace its evolution starting as a defensive fort, morphing into a palace and center for the arts before becoming the museum of the people during the French Revolution. Sciolino talks with curators, security guards, artists and cleaning staff in her quest to uncover hidden secrets such as, does the Louvre have ghosts, why is the Mona Lisa the most famous work and does it deserve all the accolades.
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All of this is not to say that Sciolino neglects the art. One of her talents lies in describing the works and their significance as pieces of art, pieces of history and reflections of us. Sciolino asks Sebastien Allard, veteran curator and current director of paintings at the Louvre, which paintings are more beautiful than the Mona Lisa, an admittedly irreverent, almost sacrilegious question. Allard takes Sciolino on a tour of Louvre portraits, and Sciolino brings us along to admire Vermeer’s, “The Lacemaker,” Rembrandt’s “Bathsheba at Her Bath” and Titian’s “Young Man with a Glove.” Under Allard’s narration and direction the works are revealed in new ways, as if a veil has been lifted, allowing the reader to see them as an art historian or curator.
If you think a nonfiction book about an art museum isn’t for you, I urge you to reconsider. Sciolino’s narrative has something for just about everyone. Her style is engaging, just the right amount of effusive stopping well short of belaboring. She digs deeper and brings up the best nuggets of detail, just enough to take us along as if we are descending to the basement to the Louvre’s high tech art authentication laboratory with her.
If you like audiobooks, I recommend the audio version. Narrator Lynn Bradford brings the perfect mix of austerity and wonder to the reading.
Bring your questions and insights to our discussion and let us know if you, too, have fallen in love with the Louvre.
Image credit: Gonzaloferjar, Titian’s Man with a Glove via Wikimedia Commons (license)
