Friday Shoe History Corner: A Trip to the Louvre

This week, Friday Shoe History Corner is brought to you by the camera of Hester Vlamings, a Dutch shoe designer who nipped off to Paris for the weekend and took some snaps of the footwear in several galleries of the Louvre.

When she sent the photos our way, I took a trip through Atlas (the searchable online database of the Louvre’s holdings) and identified most of the paintings where Hester’s shoes are to be found. The fruits of my art historical footwear research are here for you all to take in some artistic shoe history. Do click the links, because a lot these shoes and sandals show excellent details when you see the larger image.

Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804 by Jacques-Louis David (1808)

The Intervention of the Sabine Women by Jacques-Louis David (1799)

The rest after the cut.

The Love of Paris and Helen by Jacques-Louis David (1788)

Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi by Joseph-Benoît Suvée (1795)

Hector Taking Leave of Andromache by Joseph-Marie Vien (1786)

Tancrède Baptizes Clorinde by Bénigne Gagneraux (1789)

The Death of Du Guesclin by Nicolas-Guy Brenet (1777)

Retaking Paris from the English by Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1787)

Fun trip through French painting of the late 18th/early 19th century, no?

You can join in on the fun if you want. Here are a few more shots with no paintings attached. Can you identify them?

(these remind me of the interchangeable Mohop sandals I’ve talked about before over here)

(remember the sabatons of previous Friday Shoe History Corner fame?)

(that last pair hints that there’s a historical basis even for outlandish shoes like the legwarmer sandals)