Susa Beasties

All of the following photos are from the Temple of Darius. I got it wrong in yesterday's post: The Temple of Darius is Persian, not Babylonian. Wrong empire, wrong era. D'oh. Definitely see a continuation of motifs though, such as tilework lions. These two have unfortunately lost a lot of their color.


I LOVE these four winged lions with the curved horns. So incredible:

I'm not sure what to call this one. Doubt it's a winged unicorn, but that's what springs to mind:

Susa Archers

I took a glorious walk in the sunshine down to the Louvre yesterday. And then spent several hours inside, which might seem silly except that the sunlight really helps with taking photos in there. And it's a 45 minute walk each way so I was outside. Enough justification.

The Louvre's special exhibition right now is on Babylon. I just did a quick walk through since I'll be going back with my sweetie. Does bother me that all of the labels are in French and boy I'd have paid that exhorbitant amount for the coffeetable book if I could just understand it.

No photography was allowed in the exhibition, but I did take a wander over to the permanent collection to see remains of the Palace of Darius from Susa (in current day Iran). Also Babylonian and for obvious reasons too big to move over for the special show.

I'm so madly in love with the colors and patterns on the tilework. There are multiple sets of archers. The colors are so incredible, I wish you could see them. Soft yellow and turquoise.

A lone archer

This particular pattern appears often.

Another set of archers. You can't see it but the top has arrows pointing upwards.

There's cunieform writing in the middle:

I know, I know, more of the same. I took soooo many photos of the feet and robes, just be glad I narrowed it down some.

These remind me of antique quilts, the way the "fabric" in some blocks has aged more than in others. The colors are no longer like the makers intended, but still glorious all the same. I wish I hand-dyed fabrics - I'd love to try and duplicate the range of colors here.

The Color Blue

This is not the kind of thing you're usually likely to run into on my blog, but I wanted to show you this stunning example of the color blue. On my last visit to the Louvre I was rushing through the paintings on my way to the good stuff, when this gorgeous glowing blue caught my eye.




Victoria Finlay describes in her book Color: A Natural History of the Palette how important it was for painters to get the best blue paint. I loaned out the book so I can't tell you more, but I do highly recommend reading it.

Anyway, just seeing this painting really brought that point home. Sometimes you just need that certain color, the exact right material, the extra bit of zing that will bring your quilt to life.

And by the way, no, it's not usually this lightly populated in the Louvre. This was out of the way of the high traffic areas (not near the Egyptian stuff and well past the Mona Lisa), mid-week, in low tourist season.

On a completely different note, I have to admit to being a bit cranky - not enough sun this last week. Sigh. Definitely feeling springy though and I have the increase in allergies to prove it. I have gotten quite a few more diamonds pieced though. I'm definitely having fun with that job and avoiding the boring part of putting it all together.

Primitive Art at the Louvre

I finally found my way to the primitive art collection at the Louvre, housing works from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. It's a bit hard to get to (use the Porte des Lions) but well worth a visit. I thought it far more interesting than all those Spanish and Italian paintings I hustled past to get to the gallery.

When I first saw this piece I thought it was new. I've seen welded pieces by Picasso that looked similar. But nope, this was made in Benin in 1858.

A sculpture from Nigeria. XVIIIe siecle. Heck, Roman numerals. 18th century is my guess.

Indonesian statuary from the same time frame.

A huge totem from Taiwan - this was something like 10 feet tall. It's made out of wood, but looks coppery.

A Pakistani sculpture from approximately the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th.

I love the tool marks on the head and the cracking of the wood.

This one is actually in my guidebook. This tall male figure is from the island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific and was made in the early 19th centure. The blue paint was made by mixing lime, burnt coral, and "dolly" blue. Dolly blue? I don't know what that is, but the patina is extraordinary.

This is a figure of a god from Hawaii made in the 18th century from wicker, mother-of-pearl, and dogs' teeth amongst other things.

Best for last. I turned a corner and was completely blown away by this head from Easter Island. Oh my, it is glorious. And large.

Sorry I didn't think to get a photo that would give you a sense of scale. I'll do that on another visit, which I will definitely have to do.

Colombe's St George Fighting the Dragon

Have to admit I'm getting tired of seeing the same old thing over and over in my blog. (Speaking of that "old thing" I've got several rows put together.) So here are some pics from the archives. This is Michel Colombe's marble sculpture of St George Fighting the Dragon, which is located in the Louvre.

I'm completely fascinated by the dragon.

His face looks like a dinosaur.

Little stubby wing:

The scales look like a patchwork or quilting pattern to me.

The info on the piece, which was executed in 1509-1510.

This is just for kicks. It's another piece and I didn't take a photo of the information. I just love the woman's toes. And that is a strange furry sea monster.

I seem to be spending far too much time doing chores like laundry and grocery shopping and not enough time sewing. But yesterday we had sun, real strong wonderful sun. Woohoo!