May 15

The Archives National are just a block from our place. Set in a handsome set of buildings, most notably the Hotel de Soubise, it contains the records of France. When we went there was a protest going on against plans by Sarkozy to put a Museum of French History there. While that may seem unexceptional, there is a lot of political baggage about this proposal. Basically, it boils down to conservative vs. progressive thought. Think of this new museum as equivalent to a Museum of White People in the States and you'll get an idea of the heat this is generating. I got a pamphlet as I walked in, and the staff had hung a banner on the facade of the museum protesting the "takeover" by the government.

Ira had wanted to see the grand rooms in the Hotel de Soubise part. They were marvelous. The most notable is the Oval Salon, which is filled with light from a regular succession of french doors. The decoration is rococo, marvelously inventive with arabesques and turns and rounded edges. The paintings that occupy the niches are not so successful. By Natoire, the paintings seem more revivalist Classicist than rococo. Ira disliked them on sight. He was the equal of Boucher in his time, but he is the epitome of the Academist, nothing of the genius, but talented enough to produce dull, popular work that challenges nothing. There was an amusing quote about him being popular with decorators and architects because his paintings never upstaged the "wood and glasswork." Another reference to him was "quickly forgotten." History can be a harsh judge.
In some of the rooms were documents, minor things like the Edict of Nantes or Napoleon's last will and testament. A papyrus! from Dagobert I king of the Franks. It's just a bit thrilling to be in the midst of all that history.