Nicole Page-Smith
The grotto not the cave
When you venture upstairs to the painting department of the Louvre, you are confronted with rows of old master paintings and several Leonardo da Vinci paintings. Although, the collection changes around from time to time, the memory of the experience settles in your mind differently to viewing books. So, when thinking of the memory of for example, Leonardo, the contrasts of shadow play an important role and in "The Virgin of the Rocks" the grotto not the cave seems to surface. Frontal issues of clothing or embroidery rather than the face and so forth are apparent. Other paintings and the spaces surrounding the artworks do play a part in memory and other people along with the strange smell of the flooring and perhaps decaying paint and canvas. The other people in the museum tend to fade away as though although it is a fairly crowded museum to visit, they were never there. All artworks perhaps are social commentary of their day but the society they keep is not known so, there are huge question marks as to the content with or without the information known about an artwork. Perhaps the time of day is important when you visit a museum, stop for a bite to eat and then have another view. Some centuries are always visited more than others and are always more popular for various reasons. You feel artists are always accomodating taste. Most of the artworks on display are commercial paintings although some were former altarpieces. I enter the grotto not the cave.
