Leyte (CVA 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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THERE ARE various theories as to how the Louvre came to get its name. Some suggest that it is derived from loup, the French word for wolf, and that originally it was a sort of fortress against these predatory animals, which even in the 14th century penetrated to the center of Paris and devoured several of its inhabitants. At any rate, the Louvre, as we know it now,.dates from the middle of the 16th century, when Francis I ordered the old fortress to be pulled down, and commissioned Pierre Lescot to build a palace in its place. Assisted by the sculptor, Jean Goujon, he worked for over twenty years until his death in 1578, and erected practically all the southern wing. The remainder was constructed under Louis XIII and XIV, Louis XIV sent for Bernini, the architect of St. Peter's to draw up plans of great mag- nificence. Apparently since they were not French enough 134 in character, Bernini's plans were not accepted, and Claude Perrault designed the eastern front of the Louvre, which is a masterpiece of its kind and has served as a pattern for a great deal of the subsequent Classical archi- tecture of Paris. One of the astonishing things about the Louvre is, that although it took 300 years to complete, there is absolute harmony in its planning and decoration. The building follows the general lines laid down by Pierre Lescot, and the decoration the detail of Goujon. Today it is a treasure-house of art and sculpture of all recorded time, from the ancient Egyptian and Assyrian collections to contemporary chef d'oeuvres. Among the more famous works housed here are: the Aphrodite of Melos, or Venus de Milog the Winged Victory of Sam- othraceg the unforgettable Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci, and countless hundreds of others.

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I I . . . . . 4 faith 1n God . . . the one sure thing ln our ever-changing world. i r In Some of the group with money to burn inspecting the souvenirs in the little shop near Notre Dame. AT THE BEGINNING of the 6th century, Clovis, king of the Franks, conquered Gaul and made Paris his capital. Since the country at that time was in a stateuof anarchy and he brought a sort of rough and ready law and order, he was welcomed by most of the population, whom he conciliated by a lightning conversion to Christ- ianity, and by leaving more or less intact the Roman administrative system. His chieftains and officers took over the responsibilities and functions of the imperial civil servants, but they made these offices hereditary. In other words, they continued to collect the taxes and rents, as in the past, maintained the forced labor and military service of Roman days, and quite unconsciously created the economic and social form of feudalism. By the twelfth century, prosperity had come to West- ern Europe, and with it a wave of religious fervor almost unsurpassed in history.eWhile a mob of three million people of all ages marched across Europe to rescue Jerusalem from the pagan, others built churches and abbeys with feverish energy. It was therefore in 1163 that the Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully, conceived the project of building Notre Dame on the site of the former Cathedral, and, indeed, of a Roman temple. Although taking 160 years to build, this magnificent Cathedral has an architectural unity rare in medieval times, when each successive generation of builders al- lowed itself a certain fancifulness of design in construc- tion, only too frequently to the detriment of artistic harmony. In Notre Dame, however, nothing has been constructed or altered to spoil the original conception of the twelfth-century design. The Glorious Rose Window of the northern transept, one of the most decorative motives in Gothic architecture.

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Viewing the magnificent marble statue of the VICTORY OF Perhaps the most famous painting of allg MONA LISA by SAMOTHRACE, set superbly in an archway at the top of the I Leonardo da Vinci. A young French painter is inspired to make stairway. 1 V a copy. The Arc De Triomphe Du Carrousel, constructed, by Napoleon to com- A View of the Beautiful Tuileries gardens, laid out in the time of memorate his victories, and also as a gateway to the Tuileries. Louis XIV by Le Notre. In the background the Arc du Carrousel. 135 ,