Finding Alexander in France

[jan]

I just returned from a visit to the Louvre and the Chateau du Versailles in France. Naturally, I was interested in finding as much information as I could about Alexander there, and was very successful in achieving that goal.

The Louvre actually has online a study of where to find all the artwork that is about Alexander there, and so while I did not follow that guide totally, and followed my own leads, I went on my own and searched two wings of the Louvre where I took many photos and videos of the various busts and portraits of ATG.

An incident occurred while I was trying to leave the Louvre and was speeding through one of the halls that made me stop to see why I was being stopped. I turned to look and saw that it was a portrait of Alexander, this one being the painting at Thebes where Alexander is listening to the woman who had defended her family when the city was under sack by the Macedonians. I stood and studied this portrait for a long time, as it fascinated me to see the citizens standing in line waiting to be heard by the great King Alexander.

The artist has caught the poignancy of the plight of the mother and the young children there who are being ushered by a Macedonian soldier. It is a painting that spirit caused me to stop to study. I turned and saw that many people were watching me while studying this, and with that, a sudden burst of vitality came through and I raced down the hall to exit the museum as quickly as possible.

My intitial thoughts were that it is interesting how Alexander had admired the courage of the woman who defended her family and was able to give her a sensible judgement. Alexander was fair....

I did videotape that portrait as it is that important to me to recall the moment...Jan

[Fingy]

It would be great if you could post some of your pictures!

[Fiona]

Your trip sounds very exciting, you'll have seen some great treasures there. I hope it was all enjoyable. I agree with Fingy, it would be lovely to see some of your photos, if you have some to share.
Fiona

[jan]

Why, thank you for wanting to see the pictures. I will try to share them with you in the best way possible..I placed three attachments at Alexander-Macedon discussion group with the yahoo groups, and those are under attachments. Two are of scenes in the chateau du Versailles which I caught with my digital camera, and a sketch that I decided to share is also there at that site. The others which I took at the Louvre are on a flipcamcorder for youtube and as soon as I get them connected (having some difficulty with system at the moment) I will tell you how to find them...They are video tapes instead of photos. Because I had shared a sketch of Alexander that I had drawn from a memory lapse of some kind I also decided to place one sketch of Louis XIV that I had made years ago at the Louis XIV discussion group also at yahoo. Sketches cannot be copied I learned. That is good.

I have also added some attachments of the visit to Paris on the Louis XIV discussion group site. They can be seen there. Eventually, I may get them on facebook but so far I am having to do one thing at a time very slowly...

[Fiona]

Thanks very much, Jan, those are great. Good sketch! I agree with you about taking notes and sketches as you go - very good aid to the memory.
That is an awesome ceiling, which you'd expect for Versailles, of course. I was very interested in the second of the two ceiling ones, the more colourful one in the semi-circle shape. Do you happen to recall the name of the artist? It looks like Le Brun, but it's not one I've ever seen before.
Fiona

[jan]

Hello Fiona,

I apologize for being so late in responding to these posts. Yes, it was LeBrun I am sure, but I will check my book on LeBrun to make certain. I know that he was commissioned to do the Alexander series, so I would be willing to bet that it is his work.

About my flipcamera which does still have my videos on it regarding the trip and that is that I have had to have it updated so that I can finally connect. Since that updating I have not tried to use it yet, but will sometime this week. (I truly get so involved in getting back to normal that I get way behind in computer work, plus I am having to watch how often I use my broadband because I had exceeded my allowance last month and that has hurt me a lot financially, as I had not even known I had an allowance and apparently I overused it...so now I am toning it all down..sorry for such a longwinded explanation.

I just left Marcus's facebook photos and found that interesting also. I am on facebook too but have not yet been able to get all my photos even begun there. I do want to get my flipphotos on youtube though as there are many wonderful videos of Alexander there also...so please be patient with me...I truly want to get them online so that you can see them too.

I admit now I am more impressed than ever with how much Alexander has fascinated artists,historians, and biographers alike. I truly have had no idea at the impact that he has had on generations of people as time has passed. It is incredible to realize that people continue to find him such an inspirational and fascinating, though controversial, character.

I admit though that Hollywood and the writer/directors and actors have not ever done him even a remotely kind of justice. They just do not get him, it appears to me...at least, so far none has ever achieved anything of value as far as I am concerned.



But sculptors have created images that are very admirable...least wise I like some of them...my best, Jan

[jan]

Hello Fiona,

Again, I tried to get my camcorder to put videos onto youtube but I keep getting the same response about connection problems. I do not know what the problem can be, but so far it is not resolved. When I finally get the videos online, I will let you know...my apologies...Jan

[jan]

Hello Fingy,

I do see that you wrote a post also and I enjoyed reading the discover Alexander post that you wrote as I have finally begun to watch the Reign:Conqueror series which is on youtube.

The statuary that I found of Alexander is quite extraordinary. This morning my computer sent me to the video of Reign:Conqueror where Alexander meets Diogenes the Dog, and that was most interesting to consider.

Realizing how this author interpreted the histories and shaped them into a coherent study is quite fascinating to me...It is the same with the videos that I took at the Louvre, realizing each different individual's artistic impressions and perspectives...always quite illuminating to see details in costumes. I could spend a lot of time in the Louvre just studying the variety of details in costumes and wearing apparel alone.

While I am on the topic of Alexander and my visions of him, I have made many sketches as I have seen him. That is why one part of Reign:Conqueror intrigued me as there were occasions when some scene triggered my memory.

Since art sometimes has an aspect of truth in it, I am fascinated with this work by the Japanese.

It is always interesting to see how various cultures interpret history as each has a different set of eyes when looking and examining artifacts of the past.

I consider it odd now that it was an American film about the war with Japan that triggered an episode in recalling Alexander at Charonea...so strange things happen and now to learn of this anime is quite extraordinary now. I like the pictorial drawings as it is obvious that they are not intended to be historically accurate. Sometimes Alexander looks like a version of Batman to me.

One scene in Reign:Conqueror made me think of the dropping of the atomic bomb. It was strange to think of time from Alexander to that of WWII and Harry Truman. I will close and return to your post now...Jan