JdL #1
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Watercolor, gouache, acrylic, graphite, pen and ink
7 7/8” x 7 7/8”
Jardin du Luxembourg
While not the first chronologically, the first park I started researching was the Jardin du Luxembourg, so the story begins there.
After the assassination of her husband, Henry IV, Marie de Medicis, as Regent for her son, Louis XIII, commissioned a new palace and garden, modelled on the palace and garden of her childhood home, the Pitti Palace and Giardino Boboli in Florence. Located in the then up-and-coming Left Bank, and named after the Roman for the hill where the garden was located, Mons Lucotitius, the garden was originally 8 hectares (19.8 a) in size. The park increased and decreased in size until finally settling on its current 23 hectares (56.8 a) size, making the fourth largest park in Paris, after the Jardin des Tuileries, the Bois de Boulogne, and the Bois de Vincennes. It has been loved and neglected, refurbished, abused, and occupied.
In one of the periods in which it was loved, during the July Monarchy (1830-1848), King Louis-Philippe commissioned 20 statues of the queens of France for the garden; three of these are shown in the photo below. Also shown is a piece inspired by those statues.
And in one of the periods in which it was occupied, the original palace, now home of the Senat, was occupied by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. There is a testament to that occupation placed in the ground just a little behind and to the west of the Senat – a stone commemorating 7 members of the French Resistance who were executed by the Germans 6 days before they left Paris in August of 1944. That stone, served as inspiration to a series of paintings entitled, “7 Lives, 7 Lights” one of which is pictured here. It is proof that, while the violence of their execution has passed, the brightness of their lives continues…
Tune in next month, when we explore a little of the history of the Place de la Grêve – the space in front of the Hôtel de Ville, home, for more than 500 years, to all kinds of executions…
While not the first chronologically, the first park I started researching was the Jardin du Luxembourg, so the story begins there.
After the assassination of her husband, Henry IV, Marie de Medicis, as Regent for her son, Louis XIII, commissioned a new palace and garden, modelled on the palace and garden of her childhood home, the Pitti Palace and Giardino Boboli in Florence. Located in the then up-and-coming Left Bank, and named after the Roman for the hill where the garden was located, Mons Lucotitius, the garden was originally 8 hectares (19.8 a) in size. The park increased and decreased in size until finally settling on its current 23 hectares (56.8 a) size, making the fourth largest park in Paris, after the Jardin des Tuileries, the Bois de Boulogne, and the Bois de Vincennes. It has been loved and neglected, refurbished, abused, and occupied.
In one of the periods in which it was loved, during the July Monarchy (1830-1848), King Louis-Philippe commissioned 20 statues of the queens of France for the garden; three of these are shown in the photo below. Also shown is a piece inspired by those statues.
And in one of the periods in which it was occupied, the original palace, now home of the Senat, was occupied by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War. There is a testament to that occupation placed in the ground just a little behind and to the west of the Senat – a stone commemorating 7 members of the French Resistance who were executed by the Germans 6 days before they left Paris in August of 1944. That stone, served as inspiration to a series of paintings entitled, “7 Lives, 7 Lights” one of which is pictured here. It is proof that, while the violence of their execution has passed, the brightness of their lives continues…
Tune in next month, when we explore a little of the history of the Place de la Grêve – the space in front of the Hôtel de Ville, home, for more than 500 years, to all kinds of executions…
JdL #22 Paean – Sept Lumières | Seven Lights
Gouache, watercolor, ink, graphite, marker, and transfer on Fabriano paper mounted on plywood
15.75” x 15.75 ”
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Sold
Gouache, watercolor, ink, graphite, marker, and transfer on Fabriano paper mounted on plywood
15.75” x 15.75 ”
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Sold
JdL #21 Child’s Play
Gouache, watercolor, ink, graphite, and marker handmade paper mounted on plywood
11.75” x 11.75”
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3808/10065923/view”>
Gouache, watercolor, ink, graphite, and marker handmade paper mounted on plywood
11.75” x 11.75”
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3808/10065923/view”>
