The Roger Thomas Collection Blog

The edge of ridiculous

In Art and history by Roger Thomas

The image of Hercules against wallpaper printed with pastel colored nosegays is quintessential Napoleon III: Classicism taken past the height of decorative excess to the edge of ridiculous in exquisite quality, dubious taste, and with the maximum of ostentation.

I love these rooms in the Louvre’s Richelieu Wing for their gratuitous opulence, excessive detail and consistent visual clutter. I always feel I’m in a cinematic satire on “how the rich live.”

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