Since we’ve stayed home for so much of the last 15 months, I haven’t had the chance to see many of the masked statues in and around St. Louis. I did finally catch a glimpse of King Louis IX in a St. Louis city flag mask when Bunny and I went to the Art Museum last week, though!
The Apotheosis of Saint Louis, the statue towering over Art Hill which features the city of St. Louis’ namesake, is a familiar sight to residents and visitors alike. That familiar sight is looking a little different right now, however, as it is currently undergoing a major restoration. The statue is over 100 years old, and hasn’t been restored since 1998, so I guess it’s about time!
It’s definitely strange to see such a familiar landmark look like this, but I’m glad they’re taking care of Louis, so that he can be admired by future generations of St. Louisans!
When we were at the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park this morning, I happened to look up at the famous “Apotheosis of St. Louis” statue, and noticed that it looked like Saint Louis had a halo. It seemed rather fitting for a man who has achieved Sainthood!
Today we took a field trip to the St. Louis Art Museum to see two special exhibits. One was related to our current history lessons–Calligraphy in Chinese and Japanese Art. The other was a special, short-term exhibit in celebration of St. Louis’ 250th birthday–Louis IX: King, Saint, Namesake.
Sadly, photography was not allowed in the galleries, but it was a very interesting exhibit. The best part was a video showing how illuminations in manuscripts were done, and then how the manuscripts were bound. Since we had also learned about that in history recently, it was a nice surprise to an already planned trip.
The first of the two galleries focused on art produced during the reign of Louis IX. The most significant item on display was pages from the Morgan Library Picture Bible, which was made using the illumination techniques mentioned in the video. It is thought that King Louis commissioned the making of this Bible personally, and it is a truly magnificent work to behold!
The other gallery focused on the life and legacy of King Louis, and included many paintings of him (or people posing as him). There were also several books on display for visitors, both adults and children, to look through, including a few that we have in our own home library. Our favorite of those available was Marguerite Makes a Book, which is an excellent children’s story about illuminations and book-making in the middle ages.
If you’re curious about Louis IX, or how books were made prior to the printing press, I recommend this exhibit even though it is very small. And since I couldn’t take pictures in the galleries, I’ll leave you with a picture of one of the most famous statues in St. Louis, which also happens to be located just outside the Art Museum: The Apotheosis of St. Louis, a beautiful gift donated to Forest Park by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company:
