Your Guide to Year 3

of Louvre Atlanta

The Louvre and

the Masterpiece

High Museum of Art

Atlanta, Georgia
2008-2009

Accenture is proud to support the Louvre Atlanta exhibition.

Bienvenue Welcome!
Accenture welcomes you to the High Museum of Art and
the nal year of the Louvre Atlanta exhibition.

We are pleased to partner with the High as the Presenting

Partner of Louvre Atlanta. During its three-year run, Louvre
Atlanta has traced the history and development of the Louvre
from the 17th century to the present. The nale of a groundbreaking idea, Louvre Atlanta opens its third year featuring
masterpieces from the Louvres eight curatorial collections.
This exhibition looks at the diverse understandings of the
concept and evolution in meaning of masterpiece as it
explores art created over four millennia. You can be one of
the rst to discover whats behind the scenes of this years
exhibition through a new Interactive Wall as well as become
an art detective through a new interactive Forgery Game
both designed by Accenture.

Some of the signature pieces youll enjoy this year include

Michelangelos Ideal Head of a Woman, an Egyptian sculpture
Head of Amenophis, III and Lorenzos Carrying the Cross. Learn
more about this treasure and others from The Louvre and
the Masterpiece.
Louvre Atlanta celebrates the extraordinary human achievement
made possible when knowledge, skill, passion and intellect
work together to deliver high performance and innovation.
We are proud to partner with the High Museum of Art to
present these exemplary works of art and the rare treasures
from the Muse de Louvre. This guide provides some fun facts
about select masterpieces on display during its nal run. We
hope you will enjoy your experience and the exhibition with
all it this has to offer.

Lion and serpent, also known as The Lion of

the Tuileries, 18321833
Antoine-Louis Barye
French, 17951875
Bronze, cast by Jean-Honor Gonon (17801850) and Sons
Department of Sculptures, LP 1184

One of the signature pieces youll enjoy this evening includes

the Lion and Serpent, also known as The Lion of the Tuileries.
This wonderfully dramatic sculpture was commissioned in
1833 by the King of France, who took the throne in July under
the Zodiac sign of the lion. It was eventually placed on public
view in the gardens of the Tuileries palace. Baryes lion was
so true to life that it frightened young ladies walking in the
gardens. In order to create this sense of realism, Barye made
every effort to understand the anatomy of the lion. Going so
far as having the zoo keeper in Paris call him when a lion died
so that he could dissect and sketch it.

Study for The Raft ogoof the Medusa, 1819

Thodore Gricault
French, 17911824
Oil on canvas
Department of Paintings, RF 2229

This painting is a smaller study for Theodore Gricaults

masterpiece. Though the paintings sheer sizemore than
16 x 23 feetdrew the publics attention, it was Gricaults
rebellious approach to traditions of subject matter that
propelled this painting to masterpiece status. Rather than
portraying a heroic subject drawn from history or mythology,
this dramatic scene recounts a contemporary eventthe
1816 shipwreck of the military vessel La Mduse and the
subsequent violence that erupted on a large raft upon which
approximately 150 soldiers were set adrift. The subjects in
Gricaults painting are anonymous everyday men, victims of
a contemporary tragedy. The painting was scandalous, and
the public loved it.

Peacock dish
Iznik, Turkey, ca. 1550
Stonepaste with underglaze painting over a slip coating
Department of Islamic Arts, K 3449

Dish with floral spray

Iznik, Turkey, ca. 15501560
Stonepaste with underglaze painting over a slip coating
Department of Islamic Arts, INV 27701

Dish with floral spray

Iznik, Turkey, late 16thearly 17th century
Stonepaste with underglaze painting over a slip coating with
traces of gilding
Department of Islamic Arts, INV 10148

Have some fun with this trio of plates made in Iznik, Turkey
over 450 years ago. Which one is the masterpiece? Look
closely at the way the artist has placed the plants on each
of the plates. Which one has the more interesting and different
arrangement? On two of the dishes the spray of owers is
restricted to the center, whereas on one of them the plants
are allowed to expand all the way out to the edge and beyond
and the composition is centered on something specic. If you
picked the plate with peacock in the center as the masterpiece,
well done!

The Astronomer, 1668

Johannes Vermeer
Dutch, 16221669 or 1670
Oil on canvas
Department of Painting, RF 1983-28

For over 200 years, Johannes Vermeer was lost to history. One
of the worlds greatest painters was not rediscovered until a
French scholar brought him back to light in the mid 1800s.
Interestingly, Vermeers The Astronomer was so admired by
Hitler that it was conscated by the Nazis during World
War II and considered one of Europes greatest paintings.
It was returned to its owners after the war and eventually
made its way into the Louvre collections in 1983 in lieu of
inheritance taxes.

Choose Your Masterpiece

High Museum of Art
Interactive Wall - Louvre Atlanta Exhibition, 2008

Year three of Louvre Atlanta continues to provide an amazing

opportunity for visitors to view the spectacular masterpieces
that have been part of this three-year partnership between
Accenture and the High Museum. This year, the visitor experience
is enhanced through the Interactive Wall. This seven by 10-foot
touch screen allows visitors to browse artwork images from
the entire run of the exhibition, vote for a favorite masterpiece
and even get a recommendation on pieces to view from the
Highs permanent collection as a way of exploring taste and
as an incentive to continue exploring the museum. This oneof-a-kind interactive tool helps visitors to bring together the
different educational aspects of Louvre Atlanta and explore
their own personal interpretation of a masterpiece. Visitors
will also get a chance to experience the Forgery Game, a new,

interactive touch screen game that presents the visitor with a

mystery to solve. The game not only educates, but provides a
fun, engaging experience.
The Interactive Wall is built on software developed by Accenture
Technology Labs and includes more than 6,400 lines of code
unique to this particular wall above and beyond the standard
software code used by other Lab projects. The wall is run by
four projectors, 10 infrared lights, two cameras and three
computers to enable the touch interactionthe screen itself
does not actually know where the user touches. The glass screen
weighs more than 450 pounds along with the additional 400
pounds of the frame. Other notable Accenture Wall exhibits include
implementations in Chicagos OHare International Airport and
Field Museum and the USA House at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Merci Thank You!

We thank you for joining us for a closer look at this once-in-a
lifetime experience. We hope you now have better insight into
what makes a masterpiece. We encourage you to return often
and enjoy all that this exhibition has to offer.

To ensure that Louvre Atlanta reaches the widest possible

audience, Accenture has partnered with the High to provide
customer insight strategies, web user experience, innovative
technology solutions and overall program management. We
have also helped develop the exhibitions interactive website,
which serves as an extended learning tool, providing visitors
with more in-depth information about the art and its history.
We hope you will visit the site at www.high.org/louvreatlanta.

Bonne nuit - Good night!

2008 Accenture
All rights reserved.
All works collection of the Muse du Louvre, Paris.
Photos: Runion des Muses Nationaux/Art Resource, New York