I meant to mention in the last post that many of the decorative wall papers and pictures in one room in the Petit Chateau featured monkeys. On one side of a room filled with mirrors, the monkeys are seen dressed up and serving the people, and on the other side the people are serving the monkeys. The artist set these up as a metaphor for what their society was like, and what changes might come about. This was painted before the French revolution . . .
You could not blame the artist for revealing his frustration at the injustice of the vast gulf between the rich and powerful in French society, and the poor. The family who commissioned him no doubt thought his work was a bit of light-hearted fun.
Below I will repeat the photo of the room in which the monkeys serving the people can be seen in the mirror and on the wall next to it. (I was trying to get an unusual photo.)
The other photos I show below include three gorgeous paintings by Raphael. Sometimes I have shown a group of paintings. These were exhibited in several rooms, which I also have shown, albeit only partially. The walls were covered in paintings! There also were a number of fine sculptures. Unfortunately we only had a limited time there, as usual, but I hope I have given you a sense of why this is regarded as a fine art collection.
This was our last tour before we reached Paris, from where I saw one more castle. After that, I can start talking about my present ocean cruise. As I write this, we have just left the port of Genoa in Italy.
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| Which are monkeys and which are human? The left half of this photo is the view in the mirror. |
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| A Raphael. |
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| The ceiling in another gallery. |
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| Another Raphael. |
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| A third Raphael. |
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| More of the gallery for which I showed the ceiling. |
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