L'Esprit de l’escalier is an expression that tells the regret of coming up with what we should have said only after leaving leaving the scene of a conversation, when it is too late.
l’inspiration nous vient en descendant l’escalier de la tribune --
on perd la tête et ne se retrouve qu’au bas de l’escalier.
Inspiration comes to us upon while going down the stairs of the tribune --and--
one loses his head only to find it at the bottom of the stairs
Denis Diderot, Paradoxe sur le Comédien, 1773
The monumental Lefuel stairway of the Louvre was constructed between 1852 -1858 in the northern buildings of the palace. Named for the architect who designed it, it features many openings to bathe in light its richly sculpted white stone. Situated today in what is known as the Richelieu wing, it leads from the
Sculpture department to the Objets d'art one floor above, then on to
The Northern Schools of painting on the next level.
Furthering its engagement to living artists through a policy of continuing orders, the Louvre Museum has commissioned the creation of glassworks for the stairway by François Morellet,
which he has playfully named
l'Esprit de l’escalier.
Morellet says that he used a technique from the Middle Ages on the
ironwork of the 19th century to make a work of the 21st.
Nicholas Dypre
Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple 1500
In nearby exhibit halls --
more stairs, eloquent of different meanings.
Here, as a symbol of transformation and passages in life.
The little girl, casting a lonely shadow, is isolated on the steps
as she leaves behind worldly things for a higher path.
Saloman Koninck
Meditating Philosopher 1645
Into the depths of the aged philosopher's study, stairs suggest
profound thought and the inner workings of man.
We seem to be deep in the intrails of this hollowed, secret space but light beams
in radiantly on the pondering philosopher.
Lucas van Valckenborgh
Tower of Babel 1594
Nemrod's command to Noah's ancestors build the Tower of Babel was a sign of man's
vanity in seeking to reach heaven, glory and godliness.
Forgetting his nature and placing himself first, man would no longer enjoy the benefits of a
common language--for his punishment was the confusion of tongues.
In this case, stairs represent man's arrogance that leads to destruction.
Don't they say somewhere else in the Bible that "pride cometh before a fall?"
a closer look
With a lightness and elegance very far from the spirit behind the Tower of Babel, François Morellet redesigned the openings and oculi, with a subtle fragmented geometry that is ever so slightly destablising.
The artist, age 83, found the idea of creating a work for the prestigious Louvre intimidating,
and said he wanted to do something that most visitors would not even notice.
J'ai réussi à faire une chose invisible pour la majorité des gens qui passeront là.
I've managed to do something invisible for the majority of people who pass through.
Morellet doesn't miss a step.
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