Mamlouks At The Louvre

On June 20th we did the Louvre's special exhibition Mamlouks 1250-1517. The Mamlouks, as every school-person knows, were a slave/warrior class within Islam, originating in the steppes of central and eastern Asia, who overthrew their masters as well as the remaining European crusaders and established their own sultanate in the 12th and 13th centuries. That sultanate encompassed most of the eastern Mediterranean and some of north Africa and was succeeded by the Ottoman Turks. The exhibition highlights their art, arms, literature, science, and more, and culminates in the the Baptistere de St. Louis, of Mamlouk origin, which has been a French royal possession since the 16th century or so and was used in the baptism of assorted royals. About a third of the contents of the exhibition came from the Louvre itself, the rest from a variety of sources.

Click to enlarge

Helpful map #105,472

The Mamlouks were mostly horse lords; one of their saddles

Helpful chronology #195

Photo of a Mamlouk mosque

Many, many highly-worked basins of one sort or another

Muslim glass from this era among our favorites

Pen and ink set

Among the assorted books, scrolls...poetry, holy scripture, practical 
and scientific treatises...

Armor...

And arms

More books

More glass

Mamlouk astrolabe

Trade routes of the era

Beautiful tapestry

Venetian painting of a Mamlouk scene

Mamlouk telephone booths

Mamlouk carpet

And now, the piece de resistance...

In a hall and presentation that far surpass the Louvre's royal jewels

The background depicts the scenes depicted on the Baptistere

Hotel De La Marine, 2

 More opulence, more views, more naval opulence...

Hey, if you're the keeper of the king's furniture, you get to use it, right?

Looking across the Place de la Concorde to the National Assembly and 
the church of the Invalides

Artsy/architectural rendering of the twin Hotels; le Madeleine up the
Rue Royale and proposed equestrian status of Louis XV

Now in the very opulent navy bits...

Portraits of great admirals adorn the walls

Personal favorite: Jean Bart, greatest of all privateers--captured
386 ships and sank or burned many more--although a commoner,
rose to the rank of Louis XIV's admiral of the ocean sea; our
appartement, in the 6th, is on Rue Jean Bart

High tech depictions of navy balls from different eras

Enough opulence already

Even naval opulence

Hotel De La Marine, 1

Our next visit, thanks to Monuments Passion again, was the Hotel de la Marine, on the eastern periphery of the Place de la Concorde, with its twin, the Hotel de Crillon. See illustration. Both date from the design of the Place de Louis XV, the Hotel de Crillon to house assorted nobles, and the Hotel de la Marine--originally, the Hotel du Garde Meuble--to house the spare royal furniture, art, etc. Sort of like the Concierge, centuries before. 

After 1793, there was no need to house the royal furniture, etc., and the Hotel du Garde Meuble became the Admiralty, as the Brits would say, or the Navy, or, the Hotel de la Marine. The navy department expanded over the years, eventually taking over the entire building for another century or two, and thus many of the building's original contents were preserved. Well, except for the two ceremonial cannons that initiated the storming of the Bastille, but that's another story. 

After the navy moved out, the Hotel de la Marine was extensively restored, including a fancy restaurant or two, and opened a few years ago as another of Paris' historic sights. The tour...augmented with much high tech...is largely of the contents and rooms of the Hotel du Garde Meuble, finishing up with the navy's grand halls, with some nice views of the arcade and of the Place de la Concorde. Some say, if you don't have time for Versailles or the Palais Garnier, the Hotel de la Marine is another option for seeing the opulence of bygone ages.

Full frontal, from the Place de la Concorde

Interesting vaulting over the large interior courtyard

Paintings--not quite of Louvre quality--all over the place

Interesting 18th century flooring

The rooms are mostly the offices and private quarters of the keeper
of the royal stuff

Much faux-Roman decor

Alas, not a Hubert Robert, but a decent view of the twin Hotels...

Private dining room

Incredible tapestries

Game table

Madame Keeper's boudoir

Doggie lounge

Identified as an Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun, but in rather poor
shape, unlike those seen in the Louvre or at Versailles or
in great museums everywhere

Outside, enjoying the columns and the views

Grand Palais nearby

Back inside