Plattegrond van het Louvre 1850 - 1873

Curator: Looking at this delicate etching, "Plattegrond van het Louvre," created between 1850 and 1873 by F. Delamare, I'm immediately struck by the sheer ambition of the project it depicts. It feels more like a dreamscape than just an architectural rendering. Editor: You're right. It has a hushed quality, doesn't it? All those intricate lines – like whispered promises of grandeur etched onto aged paper. It also gives me the chills realizing the vision and effort poured into it by its creators. Curator: Exactly. Consider the context: this plan captures the Louvre during a period of intense transformation under Napoleon III, a time when Paris itself was being reshaped to project power and prestige. These kinds of plans, which imagine not just buildings but also city flow and national identity, are key to that imperial vision. Editor: It's odd, because there is this sense of aspiration embedded in the details, the immaculate gardens, for example, yet it is fixed, a historical record of an incomplete project, isn't it? Curator: Yes. The term on the map "Achèvement du Louvre" suggests the idea of "completion," but it is frozen in time. Note how the very medium, etching, a technique demanding precision and control, reinforces this image of power and the imperial desire to control space and representation. Editor: It is true that we could walk its corridors nowadays as intended by the sketch artist. What's more intriguing is how the viewer, and indeed our place here, becomes yet another layer in that evolution of meaning. So, as an artist myself, I often see these types of sketches in relationship to the unlived spaces that may inspire further creative outputs and social interventions. Curator: A generative historical artifact, a place where ambition and social commentary collide. Thanks, that’s really given me a fresh perspective on this piece. Editor: Always a pleasure to excavate beyond the blueprints! It’s always surprising how history allows imagination.