Art

I love art. I feel like art is an expression of humanity in a unique and wonderful way. If one subscribes to the idea of a hierarchy of needs humans will focus on different things depending on what the more immediate needs. This is why there are no great massive sculptures amongst the hunter gatherer societies b/c the living is solely subsistence living.
These are photos of some of my favorite pieces from the Louvre in Paris. I love art it is a reflection of what we consider to be most important in our society. Art can recreate reality like the early portraits did before we had photography. Art can also teach us like the stain glass in churches tells us stories from the scripture or painting of myths and battle teach us about history conflict and pain. Art is also about passion and love and what we dream of. The most interesting thing about art is that is completely unnecessary. I am not bashing on the purpose and beauty that art has in our individual development. Rather art is not something that we can eat, shelter or protect us. Art is designed to make our life better simply by making it more beautiful. This speaks I think to man’s natural inclination to beauty.



Anyway you will likely notice that these are all sculptures. One is ancient the Venus de Milo, the others are by Davinci for the slave bound in ropes a project designed for the tomb of Pope Juliues that the was cancelled. The slave is supposed to be like us bound by our sins. As for the piece with the woman with a vail I just love the way her features are still clear under the guise of stone fabric, I am not sure who the artist is.


But my favorite is Cupid and Pysch. This sculpture tells the love story between the Greek god and the mortal Physch. He is supposed to punish this lovely girl who had offended Hera by being too lovely, he was supposed to make her fall in love with a beast. But instead he sees her and is himself love struck. In this tale he whisks her away form Hera and her father but he will only visit her at night. The reason for this usually that he feared that she would not love him for himself if she knew he was a god. But she grows impatient and begins to believe him a monster so one night she hides a lamp and looks at him. She is so shocked to discover that he is the god of love that she spills some hot oil on him. He then flees and she seeks him out at Hera’s. She then goes on a quest to earn her godhood and they live happily ever after