Another Proper Busride: 23. Musée de la Vie romantique

One day, a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves in the area of the Musée de la Vie romantique. Of course we popped in.

Located in the heart of the Paris district of Montemartre this townhouse was built in 1830. It was the house of the painter Ary Scheffer and remained in his family until it was transferred to the city of Paris in 1983 to become the Museum of the Romantics - Musée de la Vie romantique - dedicated to the arts and literature of the first half of the 19th century.

The ground floor of the property houses keepsakes, furniture and portraits previously owned by the writer George Sand. The upper floor offers highlights of Ary Scheffer's art - portraits and historic and religious paintings. Scheffer's studio, situated in the front courtyard, is also open and this is where he would entertain prestigious guests such as George Sand, Frédéric Chopin, Eugène Delacroix, Gioachino Rossini and Franz Liszt to name a few.

Originally the house would have had full street frontage and gardens, but some of the land was sold and the entrance to the cobbled courtyard in front of the townhouse is now via this private entry.

The courtyard, with Ary Scheffer's climber-clad studio on the left of the photo and the remaining section of the garden on the right.

Ari Scheffer came to Paris from Holland in 1811 and became a fashionable portrait painter after General de La Fayette sat for him. He became close to the royal family of Orléans and a major figure after the revolutionary days of 1830.

I'll share with you my update on French history here: The Second Revolution of 1830 saw the overthrow of king Charles X, the French Bourbon monarch who had succeeded Napoleon 1 (Napoleon Bonaparte), and the ascent of his cousin Louise-Phillipe, Duke of Orléans who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne would in turn be overthrown. So the second revolution saw the Bourbon dynasty give way to the Orléans dynasty. History lesson over.

So Ari Scheffer obtained a lot of work and therefore wealth, through his contacts with the new Orléans power-brokers. But before we peak at his fabulous portraits, let's meet George Sand. I've had to do a bit of research because I knew nothing of her, other than of her infamy.

The second quote below is interesting but written by an amatuer.

"Born in Paris in 1804, Romantic writer Amandine Aaurore Lucile Dudevant wrote a number of highly regarded novels under the pseudonym George Sand. Her most popular works are inspired by her affection for the rustic French countryside where she grew up." Wiki

"George Sand was an amazing author, personality and all-round woman. She earned as much notoriety for her Bohemian lifestyle as for her written work. She was the most famous woman writer in 19th century France. A prolific and iconoclastic author of novels, stories, plays, essays and memoirs she represented the epitome of French romantic idealism. She demanded for women the freedom of living that was a matter of course for the men of her day. Her first independent novel, Indiana, the story of an unhappy wife who struggles to free herself from the imprisonment of marriage, made her an overnight celebrity.

Subsequent novels, Valantine and Lélia, astounded readers with their frank exploration of women's sexual feelings and their passionate call for women's freedom to find emotional satisfaction. But in the eyes of many critics, Sand's masterpiece is her autobiography. Though she was a brilliant writer she was perhaps most famous for her personality and lifestyle.

Largely temperamental, rashly creative, fiery and opinionated, Sand pushed the limits in all kinds of ways. But perhaps the most interesting is simply her look and the way she behaved herself (or rather, didn't) and how she acted around even the most distinguished aristocracy. Sand, who happened to be married to a baron, left him (a great scandal in those times) took their two children, moved out on her own, changed her name to Sand and the rest is history.

She had open and notorious relationships with famous men she knew in Paris, artists, writers and musicians including Jules Sandeau, Alfred de Musset, Frédéric Chopin and others. She was close friends with the best of them - Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt and of course, most famously, with Chopin. She and Chopin had a complicated relationship going from friends to lovers to eventually being more like mother and son. Their relationship was one of the most intriguing and unlikely in history. Chopin was aristocratic, well-behaved, finicky, proper and a bit stuffy. And Sand was ... well, George.

To protest the unequal treatment accorded to women, Sand usually wore men's suits - complete with shirt, pants, jacket, tie, top hat ... the whole deal. So it is easy to see why people had a bit of a problem with her. Probably the reason she got away with her lifestyle was because she was such a famous writer. She became something of an icon, the envy of so many proper ladies who wore their corsets and frilly dresses. Not only did Sand wear mens's clothes, she also smoked cigars and had a rowdy sense of humour."

However, for all that her re-created sitting room seems pretty tame.

Upstairs is dedicated to Ari Scheffer. Beautiful portraits of the two princesses of Orléans, one of whom was a famous sculptor. Both sisters had been Scheffer's students.