The Louvre : A Complete and Concise Handbook to All the Collections of the Museum; Being an Abridgement of the French Official Catalogues (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Louvre: A Complete and Concise Handbook to All the Collections of the Museum; Being an Abridgement of the French Official Catalogues

As much as possible the absurd practice of changing proper names has been avoided but, when considered absolutely necessary, the real name of the artist has been placed in brackets after the popular one. It has also been thought useful to put the school, and the dates of birth and death, after the name the first time it appears in both cases, as indeed in nearly all the information given in these pages, adhering to that culled from the French official catalogues.

When any gallery or room has any particular name attached to it, it has been thought more useful to maintain it in French rather than to translate it.

At the head of each section will be seen a list of the catalogues in which the various objects are to be found, and a plan, with the cases numbered as in the text, which will render the search for any particular specimen perfectly easy to the most hurried visitor. A general plan of each floor is also given, every room numbered to correspond with the small plans, and the staircases marked.

No time or trouble have been spared to make the book as correct as possible, but in such a work some clerical errors can scarcely be avoided I shall, therefore, be grateful to any persons using it, if they will inform me of those they may discover. The great difficulty has been to compress so much subject matter into a small space and I can only reply to those who may consider the book too laconic, that I have suppressed all but the most necessary words in order to make it as portable as possible.

In conclusion, I would remark that I have abstained from all personal opinions or comments, simply acting as a condenser or abridger of the official catalogues, in the hope that my work may be the means of enabling visitors to Paris the better to enjoy the wondrous Art treasures contained in the National Museum for it must be borne in mind that here, under one roof, can be studied the gradual development of Art from the earliest Egyptian period to the present time, including the most perfect specimens of Painting, Sculpture, Drawings, Bronzes, Fa1ence, Ivory and Wood Carving, Jewellery, Gold and Silversmiths' Work, Enamels, Medals, etc. But, lest any one should wish to study the Museum more thoroughly, I have given a complete list of the catalogues, all of which are compiled with the greatest care by the learned keepers of the different collections.

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