When you get outside Paris, you will find Romanesque and Gothic churches of astounding beauty. In Paris, there's the Louvre, but make time for smaller museums, like the Musée Moreau and churches like Saint-Sulpice (where you can see newly-restored paintings by Delacroix).
videos + essays
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris
The fire that engulfed the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was a terrible tragedy—though not an unusual one.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Portrait of Madeleine
This portrait of an unnamed woman speaks volumes about slavery, politics, and gender in revolutionary France.
Eugène Delacroix, Murals in the Chapel of The Holy Angels, Saint-Sulpice
Delacroix's unusual choice of scenes in these murals bewildered critics for over a century.
Leonardo, The Mona Lisa
Such a tease! This ambiguous portrait plays psychological and optical games with the viewer.
A summer day in Paris: Berthe Morisot’s Hunting Butterflies
The subject takes control over the outdoor setting, expressing her independence in spite of limitations.
How to recognize Monet: The Basin at Argenteuil
In the suburbs, Parisians escaped the pressures of modern life. Monet painted their sun-drenched pleasures.
How to recognize Renoir: The Swing
Renoir wanted to forget everything he knew about how to paint so that he could render light as it really is.
Seated Gudea holding temple plan
Shown with an architectural plan in his lap, this prince constructed temples to the gods and likenesses of himself.
Humanizing Mary: the Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux
Mary’s swaying hip, elongated neck, and tender touch of the Christ Child all imbue this golden sculpture with grace. A pomegranate signals death.
Gustave Courbet, A Burial at Ornans
They wanted an epic Biblical image, or one from a Greek myth. He gave them a painting of a modern-day funeral.
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
Glass fills a staggering three quarters of this chapel’s walls. The entire building serves as a reliquary for the crown of thorns.
Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter
Artificial? Moi? This genuine portrait of familial affection challenged assumptions about the aristocracy.