"I was in Paris in December 2015 at the UN Climate Conference for work, as was my wife Diana. The city was on pins and needles, as coordinated groups of terrorists had recently massacred over two days concert-goers at the Bataclan theater, fans outside a soccer stadiums, people eating in cafes and strolling along Boulevards. Some of the terrorists successfully escaped. The fear was they would strike again. Meanwhile, COP21 delegates, meeting as the largest gathering of national leaders in world history, pressed on after ten tense days. Delegates and citizens were cautioned not to use the Paris Metro system, and to be on red alert in public spaces and buildings, such as museums.
One Saturday afternoon before the finish of the conference (the day before the successful 1.5C agreement was announced), I decided to visit the Louvre. I’d been to numerous museums in Paris over several visit: Pompidou, D’Orsey, architectural and planning museums, but never the Louvre, as the lines and hassle of crowds always were overwhelming. Not so on this day.
After viewing the obligatory Mona Lisa, some contemporary masters and the Renaissance portraitist Guiseppe Arcimboldo, I headed randomly up a large marble staircase inside a sweeping rotunda.
As I ascended to the top landing below the second floor, I gasped. A marble form of a woman, winged and poised, commanded delicately above everyone’s heads. I headed up the final flight toward her. She was headless, balanced in the air, space and time. Every step up revealed new features, feathered wings, diaphanous gown now fluttering overhead, impossible size, flawless scale on the massive pedestal—a ship’s prow. Winged Victory’s graceful personality was the triumph of eternal poetry.
I finally recovered my breath. I was totally unprepared, but calmed, even pleased, giddy and reassured as I examined the endless angles, each adding more to the perfection. And after some indeterminate period of time, I realized was unable to take in anything more after emerging from 300 BCE, so left for the hope of the cold 21st century streets." Warren Karlenzig
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Sa...
