Ceilings at Le Louvre, 1/3.
Over amazing glassware that has managed to survive since antiquity, this Restoration painting depicts the finding of the Venus de Milo.
Decorating the former study of Louis XIV next to the king’s bedroom, the room was built by Le Vau from 1655 to 1658. In the following century, it was used as a meeting room for the Académie Royale.
French kings definitely saw themselves as the protectors of the arts… and wanted the world to know.