Think big!Les Salles Rouges (The Red Rooms)
The Red Rooms, which derived their name from the colour of their walls, are home to some of the largest paintings in the Louvre, including masterpieces by the greatest 19th-century French painters from David to Delacroix.
The largest French paintings in the Louvre
Napoleon I reportedly exclaimed ‘One can walk through this painting!’ when he saw Jacques-Louis David’s depiction of his coronation ceremony. At six metres high and almost ten metres wide it is certainly an impressive work, giving the viewer a sense of actually attending the ceremony. That is the effect that these huge history paintings can create – so it was important to find an exhibition space that would do them justice.
A Second Empire decoration
The Red Rooms were part of Napoleon III’s project to expand the museum and give it splendour worthy of his imperial status; the red and gold decoration, created in 1863 by Alexandre Dominique Denuelle, contributed to that goal. The predominantly brown tones of the paintings stand out against the red background. The rooms originally presented works by 17th- and 18th-century French masters, with large 19th-century paintings added later. Compositions by the greatest names in French painting – such as Jacques-Louis David, Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix – are now displayed side by side on the walls.
Prestigious history painting
Apart from famous portraits such as Madame Récamier by Jacques-Louis David and Mademoiselle Rivière by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, most of the works in the Red Rooms fall into the ‘history painting’ category, traditionally regarded in France as the most important and prestigious. The history in question can be modern (Napoleon’s battles by Antoine Jean Gros), classical / mythological (Aurora and Cephalus by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin) or biblical (The Flood, by Anne-Louis Girodet). Some artists opted for ‘exotic’ subjects such as Delacroix’s The Death of Sardanapalus, or, more unusually, recent events with a political impact: Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa.
La Grande Odalisque
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Romanticism and modernity
The Raft of the Medusa
Unusually for his period, Géricault began to work on this huge painting without having been commissioned. The resulting composition was a history painting, but based on a recent event rather than a ‘prestigious’ historical subject. The figures in the scene are not mythological heroes or brave warriors, but victims of a shipwreck, forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. The painter chose the bleakest moment, when they saw the ship that would eventually rescue them sailing away in the distance.
This painting, first exhibited in 1819, was more than just a depiction of a tragedy. After the fall of the First Empire in 1815, the Bourbon kings had returned to power and the shipwreck discredited the newly restored monarchy: the captain of the Medusa had obtained his position on the strength of his connections with power rather than his competence; in fact, he had not sailed at all in the past twenty years! Unable to prevent the ship from running aground, he left part of his crew to drift on a makeshift raft.
Liberty Leading the People
Delacroix is best known today for this painting. It was inspired by the ‘Three Glorious Days’ of the July 1830 Revolution when the people of Paris rose up against King Charles X.
The Parisians are depicted breaking through a barricade. The female figure at the top of the composition – part classical goddess, part woman of the people – urges the crowd forward and waves the tricolour flag. She is presented as a symbol of Liberty. Delacroix deliberately used the colours blue, white and red in combination several times in his painting: the French flag, a symbol of the 1789 Revolution then of the Empire, was banned when the Monarchy returned to power between 1815 and 1830. This famous allegorical/historical painting, often referenced in art and advertising, stands as a symbol of liberty and freedom fights.
Masterpieces in the Red Rooms
Jacques-Louis David, The Intervention of the Sabine Women
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Did you know?
A special red
The Red Rooms have been renovated several times since the 19th century. In 1969, the famous painter Pierre Soulages contributed to the creation of the colour red for their walls, drawing inspiration from the red used in paintings found at Pompeii.
More to explore
Three centuries of Italian sculpture
The Michelangelo Gallery
Italian painting in perspective
The Grande Galerie
