Day 23, The D'Orsay Museum & the Eiffel Tower!

Another fabulous day in Paris. We visited the D'Orsay museum today. The building is an architectural jewel. The museum's permanent collection is breath taking. We catalogued many wonderful sculptures made of bronze, clay, and onyx. The temporary exhibit on display now features a female artist, Felicie de Fauveau. Her work includes a handful of delicate relief sculptures that date back to the early 1800's. Another artist that captivated our attention was Jean-Baptistery Carpeaux. The piece of work which we will discuss in class is "Ugolin" by Carpeaux. The D'Orsay had a small preliminary study of this sculpture as a reference for the final bronze masterpiece. You can even see the artist's fingerprints in part of the small study sculpture. Amazing! This museum is full of famous masterpieces. We have talked about many of them in art class, such as Monet's water lilies, Degas' ballerina sculpture and chalk pastel ballet scenes, and many of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. After being inspired by the great artwork in the D'Orsay, we crossed a bridge over the Seine river in order to catch our water bus. To our wonderful surprise, this was the bridge "Ponte des Artes". this bridge holds an old tradition where couples put a padlock on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine river as a symbol of their undying love. We spoted locks that date back all the way back to 1982. Love is the soul of this beautiful city. After a short ride on the "Batobus", we arrived at the beautiful Eiffel Tower. The line to buy a ticket to go up the tower was very long but well worth it. This monument is a colossal piece of architecture. It has grace, poise, and makes a very strong presence from wherever you look at it. It's no wonder why people flock in from all over the world to come see this work of art in person. Our day ended with a water boat ride back to our hotel area. Bonne Nuit from Paris! More art wonders to come tomorrow as we have a long awaited date with the Mona Lisa.

Day 22, Saturday, June 29 Beware of the Gargoyles!

Today we spent our time marveling at the sculptures and architectural beauty of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.  We listened to the audio tour describing in detail all of the cathedral's artwork.  The glass widows, sculpture, paintings, mosaics and the architecture itself were all unbelievable.  You can see most of these pieces on the Internet and in books but it is not the same as standing in the middle of a colossal size building that is artwork at its finest.  It is magnificent to be emerged in the history, science, math, and language arts all through artwork!  We have learned to see the obvious and notice the details of the patterned etched ridges on the wooden frames, the painted under layer of patterns on the ceilings and the marvelous mosaic floor grout color.  Most people don't notice these details in pictures.  All of these images below are of the cathedral with the exception of our sandwiches at lunch that were bigger then our foot and the "swing dancing" we passed on our way home tonight!  More excitement tomorrow!  Avoir from Paris!

 

 

 

Day 21, Friday, June 28 - Traveling To Paris France

Arrivederci Italy and Bonjour Paris!  Inspired, we flew from Rome and headed to Paris.  Here we will be visiting some of the most famous museums in the world.....many pictures to come in tomorrow's blog.

Day 20,

Today was out of this world. Our day began with a visit to the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. This place ismagical. It is full of amazing artwork ranging from relics, frescoes, paintings, a sculpture by Michelangelo, and the tomb of the famous artist Fra Angelico, whose frescoes we saw in the Museum of San Marco in Florence. Our second stop of the day was the Pantheon. This place is an  architectural wonder. The mathematical perfection of its dome is a living proof of Roman engineering, and possibly the most influential building in art history! The dome in St. Peter's Basilica and the Capitol building in Wasington D.C. were both inspired by the Pantheon's dome.  After a light lunch, we went back to the Vatican to visit the inside of St. Peter's. There, we saw some of the most beautiful works of art in history. The actual church is a breathtaking piece of architecture. The attention to detail in everything is perfect. This is why it draws in people from all over the world and different religions. We saw one of the most perfect marble sculptures ever made, the Pieta by Michelangelo. We are able to appreciate this form of beauty in sculpture so much more after learning how to make a terra cotta busto ourselves. There are many beautiful frescoes and larger than life sized sculptures of angels and influential people in history. The grand finale of our day was a sunset/night guided tour of the Colosseum. We were able to walk the underground halls that the gladiators once walked. This place is another architectural giant! It is full of history, art, and beauty. The floors underground are made of many families of brick. The walls underground are made of marble. We could imagine the noise of the animals waiting for battle, the gladiators preparing to conquer and the people cheering in the stands. We are truly thankful for the opportunity to come and learn so much to share back home with our students, community, and colleagues. Tomorrow, we will leave Italy and go to Paris. We learned so much in this beautiful country rich in art, history and culture. Ciao for now...the next time we blog we shall greet you with a happy "Bonjour"!

 

 

Day 19, Wednesday June 26

Today was an incredible day.  We started by attending the Vatican Papal Audience which is where the Pope greets all of the visitors speaking in multiple languages.  Afterwords, we spent 4 1/2 hours documenting history in the Vatican museum.  Wow!  What a wonderful experience!  We viewed Egyptian artwork which were excellent examples of sculpture in the round and relief sculpture. Continuing through the museum we marveled at many frescos, tapestries, sculptures made of many different materials, textile art and contemporary drawings and paintings.  When leaving the Vatican museum we walked to the Spanish Steps where we saw 180 marble steps in the shape if a butterfly leading up to a beautiful church.  On our way home we saw the spectacular sculpture of the Trevi water fountain. We were two of the thousands of people who flocked to these monumental works of art today.  We are excited to share what we have learned with our students.  More fabulous  adventures tomorrow...Hint...GLADIATORS!  Ciao!