A trip to Paris would not be complete without a visit to the Louvre, so that’s where we headed off to this morning. Before going inside, I grabbed two pains au chocolat at the nearest boulangerie to fuel up for what I knew would be a long day of exploring the museum.

The bottom two floors (-1 and 0) were filled with sculptures, figurines, and other relics. I most enjoyed walking through the two main atria in the Richelieu wing, which had tons of incredible French sculptures. I tend to think of sculpture as a Greek and Roman specialty, so seeing so many different French statues in these rooms was fascinating.

Taking the stairs up to the first floor, I wandered through the old apartments of Napoleon III. These were incredibly opulent, similar to Versailles' use of gold and extravagant features. Many of the rooms had frescoes on the ceiling with biblical imagery, and large chandeliers helped provide light for the apartments.

The opposite wing was full of European (and a few American) paintings. The European rooms included many 19th-century French pieces, such as Liberty Leading the People and The Assassination of Marat. These paintings were all incredible, and they were done on very large canvasses, which added to my sense of awe. A common theme that I observed while exploring these rooms was that the pieces relied mostly on darker colors and hues. This was fitting because the majority of the paintings depicted battle scenes or death.

We were tasked with the fun job of finding characters from A Tale of Two Cities and Les Misérables in the paintings. In terms of my criteria, I tried to limit myself to paintings that were completed around the same period as when the two novels were set. This meant that I looked within the general interval of 1750-1850. I also went more off of the personality that I imagined the character might have rather than trying to match exact physical characteristics. As for which characters I specifically sought out, I mainly focused on Cosette, Marius, and Monsieur Gillenormand for Les Misérables. For A Tale of Two Cities, I looked for Lucie, Doctor Manette, and Charles Darnay. I wasn’t expecting to find characters like the Defarges because I assumed that many of the subjects artists would have chosen to depict would have been people from higher classes.

The first people I found were Marius and Cosette. In this painting, a man is sitting on a stone in a forest and a woman is resting on his leg. They both look to be at peace, and they seem to be in love. If we use our imaginations, the forest could be the garden at the Rue Plumet house. It is in this garden where Cosette and Marius meet every night to talk and admire each other for hours on end. If the man in the painting had more clothes on, then that would add to the plausibility of him being Marius.

I discovered Lucie Manette and little Lucie Darnay on a wall nearby. One of Lucie’s most defining characteristics is her hair, and unfortunately, the color was not accurate to Lucie’s in this painting; however, the personality that I could imagine this woman having seemed to match Lucie’s loving and delicate demeanor. The woman is a brunette rather than a blonde, and she is holding a lovely bouquet of flowers. She is also smiling softly and holding “Little Lucie’s” hand. I could envision Lucie gathering flowers to give to her father, Doctor Manette, when his mind was going back to his years in prison.

Speaking of Lucie’s father, there was a painting of an artist that seemed to mirror Doctor Manette’s personality. Doctor Manette is a little older, and he is a great physician who struggles with PTSD. The man in this painting had white hair, glasses, and he was holding a paint palette and brushes. If we were to swap the painting materials with either a stethoscope or shoemaking materials, we might have ourselves an Alexandre Manette. Honestly, I think it was mainly the glasses that made me think of Doctor Manette. I don’t remember him being described as wearing glasses, but it seems to fit him from my point of view.

Next up from A Tale of Two Cities was Charles Darnay, who I found with an alternative version of “Little Lucie.” The man in the picture is shown with his daughter, according to the plaque. He’s wearing a fairly form outfit, indicating that he is probably a little wealthy. Overall, I felt that this man could be an option for Charles Darnay.

Going back to our Les Misérables characters, the person that I found the most options for was actually Monsieur Gillenormand, Marius’s grandfather. He fits the profile of most of the men who would sit for these paintings: wealthy, elderly. I can imagine him wearing a fancy outfit and being a little heavier. The painting that I felt most accurately depicted Monsieur Gillenormand was by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. It shows an older man sitting in a chair, looking like he’s very bored (which is understandable given that he’s probably been posing like that for hours). The second most accurate picture was of an older man with a younger woman, but I only focused on him. Once again, this man is elderly with white hair, wearing nice clothes, and sitting down. He is also holding what seems to be a coin, which in relation to our novel could have something to do with his wealth and status.

Although Jean Valjean is one of the most important characters in Les Misérables, I struggled to find a man that could be him in the galleries. His hair is described as being stark white, and in terms of personality, I imagine him having a kind face despite his harsh past. He is also supposed to be extremely strong. Much to my dismay, I didn’t really find anyone that matched these descriptions.

I’ve heard it can take a whole week to truly explore all the Louvre has to offer, and after walking through that maze of rooms today, I think that seven days might be an underestimate. I was satisfied with all I saw during the four hours I spent there, but I definitely could have spent days exploring. It was fun to find visuals for some of these characters that we’ve spent so much time diving into. As we wrap up our program this upcoming week, I look forward to continuing to discuss these characters further.