The Pont des Arts

The Pont des Arts

This could almost be a daguerreotype or a proto-photograph. In a museum, it’s good to look out the window from time to time: to rest one’s eyes, but also to see the world differently. There is no better view of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois than the one from the first floor of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities, looking out on the Colonnade du Louvre; nor is there a better view of the Oratoire du Louvre than the one from the Salle Marie Leszczynska. On this day, I happened to be on the Musée Charles X side in mid-afternoon, in the Galerie Campana, among the Greek vases. To clear my mind, I glanced outside. The blinds filtered the light, blotted out the thin winter colors. The Seine, the Pont des Arts, the dome of the Institut de France, all fit within the frame. Without the Tour Montparnasse and the cars on the quays, it could have been two centuries ago, in the days when the annual Salon de la Peinture was held here.