From France, with Louvre

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By Xiong Yuqing (Global Times) 08:34, November 05, 2013

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Louvre treasures visit National Museum of China in Beijing. (Photo/CNS)

For most Chinese people traveling to France, visiting the Louvre in Paris is a must-do. Even for those not interested in art or history at all, a glimpse at the iconic Mona Lisa, Nike of Samothrace or Venus de Milo can make the trip worth it - long lines and all.

Now, fortunately, a few Mediterranean masterpieces from the Louvre are a little closer to home. The Mediterranean World from the Collections of the Musée du Louvre is now on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing until February 10, 2014. Jean-Luc Martinez, who was appointed as the chief of the Louvre by the French Culture Ministry on April 15, organized the exhibition himself.

"Many Chinese visitors come to the Louvre only for Mona Lisa. I want to show here that the Louvre is much more than just what has been already well-known among Chinese people," said Martinez.

Mediterranean focus

With 280 precious objects on display, including sculptures, pottery, rubbings and paintings, the exhibition is organized chronologically into six parts, offering local visitors a good chance to sense the grandeur of Mediterranean cultures through the ages.

Martinez concentrates on the forming and merging of Mediterranean civilizations to connect the pieces.

One of the highlights is the juxtaposition of different works of art from different cultures which portray the same stories, revealing the shared mythologies of the diverse region. The Greek myth of Europa's abduction by Zeus and Prince Paris meeting Helen can be seen painted on ancient plates and vases and in bas relief. The death of Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra is also told and retold across paintings and sculptures from varying regions.

"These works are loaned by the eight departments of the Louvre and are usually scattered according to material or regional divisions," Martinez said. "But this time, they are gathered together here in this exhibition."

The National Museum has previously held exhibitions devoted to the Mediterranean region, including ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

But this is the first time the region has been comprehensively represented in one show, covering the Greek-speaking world in the east, Latin-language realm in the west, Islam in the south and Christianity in the north.

"It is a very special chance for the head of the Louvre to be a curator of an exhibition himself," said Martinez, who first started working on the project prior to becoming head of the Louvre, when he was the director of a department at the museum.

French connection

The Louvre - home to Chinese-born American architect I.M. Pei's iconic glass pyramid - has cooperated with Chinese museums and organizations several times during the past decade.

The Louvre signed the first contract with The Palace Museum in 2005 to co-organize an exhibition about Napoleon in 2008, with the Capital Museum to display artworks from ancient Greece in 2007 and with the China Central Academy of Fine Arts for a Renaissance-era show in 2010.

"The launching of this joint exhibition marks another successful international museum collaboration. It is also a great cultural event for China and France," the director of the National Museum of China, Lü Zhangshen, wrote in the foreword for the exhibition. "The intermingling of different peoples and cultures in the Mediterranean region can be a good example of peaceful coexistence and mutual development for countries with varying social systems and cultural backgrounds."

January 27, 2014 will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China. According to Martinez, a series of other collaborative exhibitions by French and Chinese museums will take place over the next year, with this Mediterranean exhibition serving as a prelude.

Chinese visitors

The Louvre became a national museum in 1793 and now holds 35,000 works of art and 380,000 objects.

As more and more Chinese people are now visiting the Louvre in Paris, Martinez said he hopes to understand how Chinese visitors take in the information presented to them, "especially in details, such as how to help Chinese people understand Western culture better by the translations of the introduction." Martinez added that he took note of how the National Museum of China presents information and collections to visitors.

In 2012, among the 9.7 million visitors to the Louvre, 70 percent were foreign visitors. Tourists from China were the second largest segment of overseas guests, following those from the US, Martinez was quoted as saying in The Beijing News last month.

The museum also took note of an incident first reported by newspaper Le Parisien in September, and then by media outlets worldwide, in which Chinese visitors were found holding fake entrance tickets.

Martinez told The Beijing News that police are still investigating the case. He said the tourists cheated by the fake tickets are the victims and they were still allowed to visit the Louvre.

"They were harmed because of our success," Martinez told The Beijing News. "As we have nearly 10 million visitors each year, we receive appreciable payment from our guests. We could say that the greatest sponsor of the Musée du Louvre is the visitors."