Yesterday I got lost in the Louvre while waiting for someone to get off a business phone call. I ended up in a part of the Richelieu wing that I had never seen before.
Until about ten years ago, the Richelieu wing of the Louvre was a government office--a cushy one where officials of the ministère des Finances could park their cars in what is now this skylit courtyard of statues.
I usually stay among the statues and had never explored the rest of the wing. Here are two things I found during that long, long phone call!
You've heard of Catherine de Medici . As Queen of France and Medici heiress, she was probably the richest woman in the world of her time. She brought Italian Renaissance cuisine to France and kick-started French haute cuisine. She was Mary, Queen of Scots' mother-in-law, and the great rival of beautiful Diane de Poitiers for the king's affections (aristocratic Diane won during his lifetime, when she and the king snootily referred to Catherine as "the baker's daughter"-- the Medicis were originally commoners; but after the king's death Catherine snatched back Diane's palace at Chenonceau and packed Diane away to retirement).
Anyway, quite a worldly power, and so it was a surprise to see that this was her tomb, below. Before the Revolution it stood in the Cathedral of Saint-Denis where all the kings and queens were buried. (A fascinating and sometimes gruesome place to visit; see last paragraph in this post.)
But my favorite thing I have ever seen at the Louvre so far was this deserted tomb of Philippe Pot, who was Seneschal of Burgundy in the late 1400s. What you can't see in the photos is that the hooded monks are five feet tall--life-sized! "Jawas!" said C who is a big Star Wars fan. "They're Jawas!"
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