Paname: The Secret History of Paris

Last time, we explored Veronese’s dazzling Wedding Feast at Cana a Venetian marvel painted for a monastery refectory and admired there for over two hundred years. Today, we follow the painting into a very different world: war, politics, plunder, restoration disasters, and an ongoing question of art crimes and restoration. Once again my main source for today is the excellent book  Napoleons plunder by Cynthia Saltzman 

If you thought the recent theft of the Napoleonic jewels from the Louvre was audacious then just wait for what I have in store for you today because it is one of the biggest, and I mean that literally, the biggest, art thefts in the Louvre’s history.  Today we are looking at Veronese’s Wedding Feast at Cana, a dazzling masterpiece that once filled an entire wall of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, and was proudly displayed there for more than two centuries, from its completion in 1563 until 1797 when French troops unceremoniously tore it from the wall, rolled it up and shipped it to Paris.

Stretched at full length, on the great divan of a studio, cigar in mouth, two friends—a poet and a painter—were talking together one evening after dinner... what follows are a series of short stories which might make you think twice about marriage. My favourite is 'Fragment of a woman's letter found in the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs' Read the full text here Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review or tell a friend, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

Spend a night with Venus and the rest of your life with Mercury... have a look inside the museum here Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review or tell a friend, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

In part two on Eugène Delacroix let's discover some of his work, for free, in a walking tour of 3 churches of Paris: Saint Paul Saint Louis, Saint Denys du Saint Sacrement both in the 3rd and Saint Sulpice in the 6th and I try to understand the story of Jacob wrestling an Angel. Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review or tell a friend, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

Eugène Delacroix, the rebel Romantic painter of the 19th century. He would go on to inspire artists for generations to come with his dynamic use of colour and bold brushstrokes. In this episode we take a look at his life & work, visit his studio in Paris and wonder about; the mysterious ear in his garden, why he found the English to be so badly dressed, if Bri really is the king of cheeses and whether is father's eye-watering operation mattered. Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review or tell a friend, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

Paris is full of celebrities but did you know that there are also celebri-trees? Fifteen trees of Paris have been awarded the special status of 'remarkable' you can find the full list here. If that does not seem much then don't worry the Mairie of Paris has chosen 174 trees and they have even made a tree walking tour. So in this episode come with me to find out about the tallest, widest, oldest and most legendary trees of Paris. Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

Paris is the city of lights, though whether that moniker refers to the intellectuals that have studied here from mediaeval times, the Enlightened thinkers of the 18th century or simply the street lights there is some debate. But, as with most things in Paris, their light obscures a dark past, so come with me as we head back to a different, darker Paris and discover her journey into the light.Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl

Upon his death at the age of 90 his children found his home completely empty, stripped of furniture and even lightbulb, all that was left were 6 monogrammed handkerchiefs and an old pair of slippers, Henri d'Orléans, the Count of Paris had made good on his  promise to leave them "nothing but hatred and tears with which to weep” Follow me on instagram or go to my website for sources and pictures.Support the show on Patreon or leave a review, it makes my day and helps people find the show.or you can make a one off donation on PayPalArtwork Double MerrickMusic The Owl