Wednesday, March 5, 2008

a moment in time

while spending some time with my french studies i read a petite article about the venus de milo. it brought back a lovely moment for me. once while standing there in the louvre, looking and lost in the moment at the venus de milo. i was entranced, just trying to take in this world famous historical work of art. a little girl was standing near as well with her mother. her mother was trying to explain to her daughter the significance of seeing such a beautiful statue. the little girl stood quiet for a moment and then she said 'but mommy, it's all broken...' i smiled to myself and thought, it is isn't it.




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

great comment. broken, still so beautiful...

Nuria Cano said...

Muy buena la anécdota.

Y la niña tenía razón, ¿por qué admirar una estatua que es vieja y para colmo está rota? Sobre todo en un contexto en el que aprendemos en que lo último, lo nuevo, lo que está de moda, es lo útil, lo bueno, lo interesante. Lo viejo ya está pasado, es obsoleto, no sirve. Sin embargo, seguimos admirando ALGUNAS cosas "viejas". Y a mí lo que me sugiere esto, no es que no admiremos estas ALGUNAS cosas viejas, sino que reflexionemos acerca de qué seleccionamos como admirable, en qué contexto se selecciona y por qué. Por qué algunas cosas caen en el olvido, se rompen, se tiran y por qué otras no, o por qué otras se rescatan del olvido. La admiración y lo bello no es neutral, es una selección entre otras muchas posibilidades...

Anonymous said...

How sweet! I didn't realise it was in the Louvre actually. Not only did I miss seeing the Mona Lisa on my trip to the Louvre but also the Venus de Milo? For some reason I always thought it was in Italy but maybe I'm confusing it with the statue of David.

l'air du temps said...

hey anonymous. it was a great comment wasn't it? for me the honesty and simplicity of that little girl's comment helped me to 'simply' enjoy the beauty of the venus de milo without being too serious about it all...

sweet Nuri... you raise some interesting ideas. and as always you get me to thinking. when i think about the valid points you have mentioned, your writings some how get me to thinking about the stories that very often do not get told or reach fame. i think of persons who did not have the privilege to become famous sculptors and painters. what and where are the 'remains' of their creations? i suppose you, more than most of us might have some insight into that question...

hi le tigre! sometimes i think the same about the venus de milo. i used to think it was in italy and i think it is because the sculptor was italian.

after 'touring' paris for a week, the louvre was my last stop (i suppose it should have been my first). by the time i got there i was completely exhausted, i had nothing left. so i must admit that i did not see much of the louvre. but i guess missed 'masterpieces' are good reasons to return to paris.