SCHOOL'S OUT

Fin des cours

To mark that today is the last day of classes for French school children we're posting a photo of one more example of the charming trompe l'oeil murals painted by students and professors of the École d'Art Mural de Versailles on utility boxes around Versailles. 

©2017 P.B. Lecron

WATER & ILLUSION

Consommée avec modération, l'eau ne peut pas faire de mal. -- Mark Twain

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. 

More of the same; another example of an unattractive utility box in Versailles transformed into a trompe l'oeil  attraction. Tourists who have the time and sensibility, track these works of the École de l'Art Mural de Versailles with the same assiduity of a hunter on safari. If only the technicians who tend to the mass of wires and cables in the boxes would sweep up the clippings they leave on the sidewalk after each intervention...

More:

Slowly But Surely

Snack Time

Versailles Beautiful

©2015 P.B. Lecron

THE GARDNER'S NEW CLOTHES

Here's another example of how the École d'Art Mural de Versailles has spruced up numerous utility boxes around town. This box has been dissimulated by a trompe l'oeil of a poster after Nicolas de Larmessin's Habit de Jardiner. A prolific engraver, de Larmessin created  fantastical series of engravings featuring grostesque costumes for various professions during the early 18th century. The majority of the trompes l'oeil are to be found on utility boxes on four major streets in Versailles, each according to a theme: on Avenue de Sceaux it's parks and gardens; on Aveunue de Paris it's baroque music; on Avenue de Saint-Cloud it's Molière; and on Boulevard de la Reine it's the fables of Jean de la Fontaine.

Vocabulary

un habit:  an outfit

les habits:  clothes

Expression

L'habit ne fait pas le moine. This literally means "the outfit doesn't make the monk," and is used to convey a meaning similar to the English expression, "don't judge a book by its cover."

Want to see more?

Versailles Beautiful

Slowly but Surely

Snack Time

©2014 P.B. Lecron

OTHERWISE A BLANK WALL

On the way back from a paint store we did a double take when we passed by this well-executed trompe l'oeil in the suburb of Levallois, northwest of Paris, and hurriedly snapped a photo from the car window. 

Vocabulary
devoir y regarder à deux fois:  to do a double take
dû y regarder à deux fois:  did a double take


©2013 P.B. Lecron

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

Lentement mais sûrement

A bit mud-splattered thanks to all of the rain we've been having, these trompe l'oeil works on utility boxes are even still a treat for anyone walking or biking down Boulevard de la Reine in Versailles. Painted by members of the Ecole d'Art Mural de Versailles.

Expressions
lentement mais sûrement:  slowly but surely
hâtez-vous lentement:  make haste slowly

©2012 P.B. Lecron

VERSAILLES BEAUTIFUL

Bike lanes here have dramatically improved since Versailles' bicycling and dynamic mayor, François de Mazières took office in 2008. What you see along the bike paths has, too. Ugly utility boxes throughout the town are being systematically transformed, free of charge, into trompe l'oeil works of art by the Ecole d'Art Mural de Versailles in a beautification project partnered with the mayor's office. More photos to come...

Vocabulary

à titre grâcieux:  free of charge

embellir:  to make more attractive

STONE AND ILLUSION

We were in the company of a French architect when we spotted this exceptional carved limestone trompe l'oeil entry façade in the small pittoresque city of Pézenas, the pearl of the Languedoc. What a surprise, even for an architect in this town which is renowned for the diversity of  its 17th century monumental entry doors. Naturally we lingered at this one, looking at it from all angles.

Located at 1-3 rue des d'André and bordering the 14th century Jewish ghetto of the historic Vieux Pézenas, the arch flanked by oblique doric columns and its door on a bias create an intriguing false perspective. Alternating bas-relief bucranes and rosaces ornament the Gallo-Roman style entablature.

In the 17th century private construction flourished in Pézenas, then an important commercial center.  Property parcels were long and narrow so owners manifested their stature through the creation of monumental doors. The porche here gives entry to the hôtel d'Agde de Fondousse, one of the most important residences built in those golden days. It has now been entirely and meticulously restored. While searching for information about the door entry I found photos made well before the restoration, below. The arch had been filled in and a column had disappeared.

                            

Vocabulary

trompe l'oeil: trompe l'oeil; visual illusion in art or architecture; literally "deceives the eye"

pittoresque: picturesque

vieux: old

bucrane: sculptural work representing an ox head

porche: entry porch

©2011 P.B. Lecron