France, in the Guise of Minerva, Protecting the Arts
Charles Meynier (1768-1832) · 1819
Look up. On the ceiling, France in the armour and plumed helmet of Minerva sits at the right in a blue mantle, spear in hand, and stretches out her arm to protect the Arts, who gather at the left: Painting with palette and brushes, Sculpture with a mallet, Architecture with a plan. Above them a woman in red holds out an olive branch, the sign of peace, while a winged genius with a palm and a torch flies over the group with a wreath. The figures are painted directly on the plaster of the ceiling, against pale clouds.
Charles Meynier was one of the most reliable decorators of the Louvre under the Restoration. He signed and dated this ceiling in 1819, for the old grand staircase of the museum that then occupied this space; eight thousand francs were paid to him in January 1818, and the coving around it was painted by Gosse. The work appeared at the Salons of 1819, 1831 and 1833. When the staircase was later removed, the room kept its ceiling, and it is now named after Percier and Fontaine, Napoleon's architects, who designed this part of the palace.
Did You Know? The ceiling once crowned the museum's old grand staircase, which has since disappeared, leaving the painting above an ordinary room.
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