{"id":33329,"date":"2025-07-14T15:53:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T15:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33329"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:53:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T15:53:03","slug":"the-sky-over-the-louvre-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/07\/14\/the-sky-over-the-louvre-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sky Over the Louvre"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Bernar Yslaire<\/strong> & Jean-Claude Carri\u00e8re<\/strong>, translated by Joe Johnson<\/strong> (NBM Comics Lit\/Louvre: Mus\u00e9e du Louvre \u00c9ditions)
\nISBN: 978-1-56163-602-0 (HB)<\/p>\n

Joyeux 14 juillet!<\/em> – or if you\u2019re being a leetle pickee<\/em> – Happy Bastille Day, mes braves!<\/em><\/p>\n

Well over a decade ago the prestigious Louvre gallery in Paris began an intriguing, extremely rewarding collaboration with the world of comics, resulting in wealth of modern art treasures – translated bande dessin\u00e9e <\/em>made available to English readers courtesy of those fine folks at NBM.<\/em><\/p>\n

The second release was 2012\u2019s Le Ciel Au-Dessus du Louvre<\/em> <\/strong>which we know as The Sky Over<\/strong> the Louvre<\/strong> – a lush and beautiful, oversized hardback graphic novel exploring the origins and philosophical underpinnings of France\u2019s national art collection, whilst simultaneously peeling back the motivations and ambitions of the twisted visionaries who steered – or maybe simply rode – the human wave of Chaos deemed \u201cthe Terror\u201d of the French Revolution: the catalyst for the gallery\u2019s very existence.<\/p>\n

These tales were produced in close collaboration with the forward-looking authorities of the Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/em><\/strong>, but this is no gosh-wow, \u201cNight-at-the-Museum\u201d, or thinly-concealed catalogue of contents from a stuffy edifice of public culture. Rather, here is an intense, informative, insightful and gripping glimpse into the price and power of art as engine of change and agent of obsession.<\/p>\n

Jean-Claude Carri\u00e8re was born on September 17th<\/sup> 1931, studied at the \u00c9cole normale sup\u00e9rieure de Saint-Cloud<\/em> and wrote a novel before becoming an actor and one of France\u2019s greatest screen writers. He assisted Jacques Tati and wrote the novelisations of his films, before going on to work with Luis Bu\u00f1uel (for 19 years), scripting such classics as Diary of a Chambermaid<\/strong>, Belle de Jour<\/em><\/strong>, The Discreet Charm of the<\/strong> Bourgeoisie<\/strong>, That Obscure Object of Desire<\/strong> and many more. Other notable credits include work with directors such as Milos Forman, Louis Malle, Andrzej Wajda, Nagisa Oshima and others on iconic films like The Tin Drum<\/strong>, Danton<\/strong>, The Return of Martin Guerre<\/strong>, Max, Mon Amour<\/strong> and The Unbearable Lightness of Being<\/strong>, although three generations of British television viewers will probably revere him most for his adaptation of the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe<\/strong> (starring Robert Hoffmann and featuring that<\/em><\/strong> iconic theme-tune) which ran on BBC 1 at tea time from 1965 to about 20 minutes ago.<\/p>\n

His approximately 80 screenplays, plus essays, fiction, translations and interviews led to countless awards and accolades including two Oscars – in 1963 for Heureux Anniversaire<\/em><\/strong> and an Honorary lifetime achievement Academy Award in 2014. Carri\u00e8re died on February 8th<\/sup> 2021. In his spare time he had also written comics, particularly with legendary clown\/gag writer Pierre \u00c9taix and Bernard Yslaire…<\/p>\n

Belgian born Bernard Yslaire (AKA Bernard Hislaire, Sylaire) began his career in 1978, drawing kiddie\u2019s strip \u2018Bidouille et Violette\u2019<\/em> for Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong> before creating historical epic Sambre <\/em><\/strong>in 1986. He was one of the first creators to fully embrace the potential of the internet with his online strip M\u00e9moires du XXe ciel \/ XXe ciel.com <\/em>(Memories of the XXth<\/sup> Sky<\/strong>).<\/em> In 2006 he produced the moving doomed romance Sky over Brussels<\/em><\/strong>, and since Le Ciel Au-Dessus du Louvre <\/em><\/strong>has largely left comics to concentrate on digital projects.
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\nThe Sky Over<\/strong> the Louvre<\/strong> compellingly dramatizes history, focussing on revolutionary artist Jacques-Louis David<\/em> and close associate Maximilien de Robespierre<\/em> (who dubbed himself \u201cThe Incorruptible\u201d) as they plan how to replace religion, monarchy and the Old Art with something unique and truly worthy of their revolution. David and his School (Drouais<\/em>, Greueze<\/em>, Girodet<\/em> and students Serangeli<\/em> and G\u00e9rard<\/em>) have taken residence in the old Louvre Palace, where past kings left their grandiose aggregation of treasures when they vacated Paris for Versailles. Here the Revolutionary council aspires to create a new aesthetic and new thought for their New Society…<\/p>\n

Jules Stern<\/em> is a 13-year-old wanderer from the Black Sea, roaming Paris\u2019 dangerous streets in search of his mother, and claiming to have an appointment with David. On the 15th<\/sup> Fructidor, Year 1 (8th<\/sup> August 1793 for those of us not wedded to the Republic\u2019s new calendar) the angelic lad confronts the artist just as he is inaugurating the Louvre as the first Museum of the Nation: dedicated to public ownership of art and the notion of beauty as a revolutionary ideal. Later, they meet again and Robespierre forms a hostile opinion of the child, although David is clearly fascinated by the headstrong, beautiful boy…
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\nAs high-minded idealism of the Revolution\u2019s early days dissolves into factional in-fighting, Robespierre and David become increasingly concerned with the spiritual and aesthetic, determined to excise and replace every vestige of the old regime and society. They seek images and concepts to embody their cause and plan a festival to the concept of Reason, but all across France backsliding and foreign invasion threaten their progress. In September 1793 the Convention (ruling body and parliament of the Republic) decrees \u201cTerror to be the order of the day\u201d…<\/p>\n

Blood, betrayal and horror rule the streets as David, from his apartments in the Louvre, begins work on a brace of pivotal works: The Supreme Being <\/em>and The Death of Joseph Bara<\/em>. It is difficult to assess which causes him the most grief and triggers his ultimate downfall…<\/p>\n

The Incorruptible is becoming increasingly more arrogant and ruthless, desperate for revolutionary images that will fire and inspire the masses. He presses David to produce the ultimate physical representation of the conceptual spirit of the New France – a vision of its Supreme Being<\/em> – but as time goes by and no image emerges, one too many people whisper that what Robespierre actually requires is a portrait of himself…<\/p>\n

Far less troublesome should be The Death of Joseph Bara<\/em>: a boy who became First Martyr of the Revolution, and one scheduled to become the nation\u2019s uniting icon. However, David\u2019s obsession with Jules Stern brings more trouble, when Robespierre objects to the boy being selected as the model for Bara the Myth\u2026
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\nNobody baulks The Incorruptible for long, but the obsessive nature of the creative impulse is insurmountable. Eventually Robespierre can only achieve his ends by sending Jules to the guillotine. Incredibly, not even death separates the artist from his model…<\/p>\n

Set solidly in the very heart of a moment of epochal historical importance, this is a stunning, utterly compelling tale of humanity at its wildest extremes, when grand ideals wedded themselves to the basest on bestial impulses, yet from that Yslaire & Carri\u00e8re have crafted a magnificently realised tale laced with staggering detail and addictive emotion.<\/p>\n

With extra features including biographies and a listing of the actual artworks woven seamlessly into the narrative, this is a truly magical book no aficionado of the medium, lover of history or student of human nature should miss…
\n\u00a9 2009 Futuropolis\/Mus\u00e9e du Louvre \u00c9ditions. \u00a9 2011 NBM for the English translation by Joe Johnson. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bernar Yslaire & Jean-Claude Carri\u00e8re, translated by Joe Johnson (NBM Comics Lit\/Louvre: Mus\u00e9e du Louvre \u00c9ditions) ISBN: 978-1-56163-602-0 (HB) Joyeux 14 juillet! – or if you\u2019re being a leetle pickee – Happy Bastille Day, mes braves! Well over a decade ago the prestigious Louvre gallery in Paris began an intriguing, extremely rewarding collaboration with … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Sky Over the Louvre”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[81,63,122,66,105,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-books","category-european-classics","category-historical","category-horror-stories","category-mature-reading","category-satirepolitics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Fz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33334,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329\/revisions\/33334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}