18th century art galleries in Paris
I am at my wits' end, and a large part of my plot has just fallen apart. Help.
Basically, it's 1776, and my main character is visiting Paris. As he has quite an obsession with all manner of art (literature, theatre, painting, sculpture etc.) I thought he might visit an art gallery whilst he's there. Obviously, my first choice was the Louvre - great, until I discovered that the Louvre didn't open as an art gallery until 1793.
Since then, I have googled all sorts of combinations of "art galleries", "art museums", "paris", "1700s" and "18th century", eventually discovering - from WikiAnswers, I think - that the Louvre is the oldest art gallery in Paris, explaining why all the others I came up with opened in the 19th and 20th centuries.
I'm rather hoping that this means that the Louvre is the oldest art gallery in Paris which is still an art gallery in the present day, and that there were actually other art galleries in the 18th century which are now no longer in existence (I am clinging very grimly to the hope that this is the case). Thus, my question: is anyone here some sort of expert on 18th century Parisian art galleries, and able to tell me where my character might go, and what sort of things he might see there? (He's going to meet another character for the first time whilst stood in contemplation in front of a painting, so I'm going to need a brief description of that painting.) An art gallery a short distance from Paris might also work, but I'd have to change a few geographical details around.
Failing that, where apart from art galleries might he be able to go to get his culture fix, and meet with Other Character? Are there any famous buildings that he might visit, and go into raptures over the beauty of the architecture or some such thing?
Any help is very much appreciated.
Basically, it's 1776, and my main character is visiting Paris. As he has quite an obsession with all manner of art (literature, theatre, painting, sculpture etc.) I thought he might visit an art gallery whilst he's there. Obviously, my first choice was the Louvre - great, until I discovered that the Louvre didn't open as an art gallery until 1793.
Since then, I have googled all sorts of combinations of "art galleries", "art museums", "paris", "1700s" and "18th century", eventually discovering - from WikiAnswers, I think - that the Louvre is the oldest art gallery in Paris, explaining why all the others I came up with opened in the 19th and 20th centuries.
I'm rather hoping that this means that the Louvre is the oldest art gallery in Paris which is still an art gallery in the present day, and that there were actually other art galleries in the 18th century which are now no longer in existence (I am clinging very grimly to the hope that this is the case). Thus, my question: is anyone here some sort of expert on 18th century Parisian art galleries, and able to tell me where my character might go, and what sort of things he might see there? (He's going to meet another character for the first time whilst stood in contemplation in front of a painting, so I'm going to need a brief description of that painting.) An art gallery a short distance from Paris might also work, but I'd have to change a few geographical details around.
Failing that, where apart from art galleries might he be able to go to get his culture fix, and meet with Other Character? Are there any famous buildings that he might visit, and go into raptures over the beauty of the architecture or some such thing?
Any help is very much appreciated.