Musee D'Orsay and the Rodin Museum

So, we were just thinking...that we should go to a couple of museums today.

First to the Musee D'Orsay to see the works of the impressionists.

The courtyard outside the museum.

They won't let you take any photos in the Musee D'O, but I sneaked a photo of the clock and the beautiful interior of the building.

Van Gogh, Degas, Monet--they were all there. I downloaded these pics, all of which we saw up close, from the museum's website. Only a fraction of what they have, and since they are undergoing a renovation, we didn't even see entire exhibits. This one will need another visit after the renovation. Yay! Another reason to come back to Paris.

Then a quick lunch on Rue St. Germain and on the Rodin.

Rodin was commercially very successful during his lifetime used this private mansion in Paris as a workshop and to exhibit his work. It is now his museum.

"The Gates of Hell" based on the theme of Dante's Inferno, was originally commissioned in 1880 as the entrance to a new modern museum for the decorative arts in Paris. The museum project was scrapped, but Rodin worked on this piece for 37 years. Many of his individual sculptures such as "The Kiss" and "The Thinker" were originally much smaller figures included in this magnificent work. Although the museum was never built, The Gates of Hell was finally cast in bronze in its finished form just prior to Rodin's death. It is now part of his museum.

The Kiss.

The Age of Bronze. This piece was controversial in that when he exhibited it, it was considered so perfect in its modeling that it could only have been done as a mold of the actual model's body. A testament to Rodin's great talent, it took years for him to convince the experts that he had in fact sculpted it himself.

The Meditation on display in the garden.

Another figure enlarged from The Gates of Hell. This form depicts Count Uggolini, who according to Dante's Inferno, was walled up in a room in Hell with his sons as his punishment. Starving to death himself, he finally ate his dead son's bodies. Yuck! So glad it's only an allegory and not a true story.

Whew! Two museums in a day. Our feet are tired, and it's time for some wine!