[The =Sculpture= at the Louvre falls into three main divisions,
each of which is housed in a separate part of the building. The
=Classical Sculpture= is approached by the same door as the
Paintings, and occupies the basement floor of Jean Goujon’s part
of the Old Louvre, with the wing beneath the Galerie d’Apollon.
The =Renaissance Sculpture= is approached by a separate door in
the eastern half of the same side, and occupies the
corresponding suite opposite the Classical series. The =Modern
Sculpture= is also approached by a special door in the north
wing of the W side in the old Cour du Louvre, and occupies the
suite beyond the Pavillon de l’Horloge.
The importance of these three divisions is very different.
Without doubt, the most valuable collection, intrinsically and
artistically speaking, is that of the =Classical= or =Antique
Sculpture=: and this should be visited in close detail by all
those who do not contemplate a trip to Rome, Naples, and
Florence. Nobody can afford to miss the “Venus of Milo,” the
“Diana of Gabii,” or the Samothracian Nikè. On the other hand,
these exquisite Greek and Roman works, models of plastic art for
all time, including two or three of the greatest masterpieces
which have come down to us from antiquity, have yet no _organic
connection_ with French history, or even, save quite indirectly,
with the development of French art. At the same time, thoroughly
to understand them is a work for the specialist: those who have
little or no classical knowledge, and who desire to comprehend
them, must be content to buy the new official catalogue (not yet
issued), to follow closely the excellent labels, and also to
study the subject in detail in the various excellent handbooks
of antique sculpture, such as Lübke’s or Gardner’s.
The discrimination of the different schools, and the evidence
(usually very inferential) as to the affiliation of the various
works on the great masters or their followers, are so much
matters of expert opinion that I do not propose to enter into
them here. I shall merely give, for the general reader, a brief
account of the succession and evolution of antique plastic art,
as exemplified in the various halls of this gallery, referring
him for further and fuller details to specialist works on the
subject.
The =Renaissance Sculpture=, on the other hand, is largely
French; and, whether French or Italian, it bears directly on the
evolution of Parisian art, and has the closest relations with
the life of the people. Every visitor to Paris should therefore
pay great attention to this important collection, which forms
the best transitional link in Western Europe between Gothic
Mediævalism and the modern spirit.
The collection of =Modern Sculpture=, again, is both
artistically and historically far less important. It may be
visited in an hour or two, and it is chiefly interesting as
bridging the lamentable gap between the fine Renaissance work of
the age of the later Valois, and the productions of contemporary
French sculptors.]