If I had a way to travel through time and space, probably the most curious explorers would take the opportunity to discover the history, traditions and cultures of the cities that have always fascinated us. What if there was a way to do it by observing masterpieces of art?
A quick look at Renoir's Bal au moulin de la Galette gives us confirmation. This painting, in fact, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of early impressionism, gives us a glimpse of the lively social life of the The Paris of the Belle Époque, which has inevitably fascinated us all through stories, images and films.
By looking closely at the painting we realize that we are immediately catapulted to Montmartre, the popular and lively neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris that at that time (and still today) was full of bohemian artists and intellectuals. And they are the ones we find inside the painting: they are there. couples dancing carefree and elegant, young people arguing among themselves while drinking a glass of wine.
The women show their status through fashionable hairstyles and wide, flowing skirts: it is a carefree afternoon that the protagonists of Renoir's painting in full period of the Belle Epoque. The artist collects minute details of the scene and transfers them to the canvas, reproducing the movement of the bodies and the energy of that historical period.
The protagonists of the painting are Renoir's friends, the same ones with whom the painter met inside that place that was a symbol of Parisian social life.
The Moulin de la Galette was a very beautiful and well-kept space, created after the renovation of two abandoned mills located on the top of the Montmartre hill, which attracted young people and intellectuals. Its name, however, referred to the pancakes that the restaurant offered to its customers, which were especially appreciated by customers.
Bal au Moulin de la Galette, now preserved in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, looks like a photograph, one of those that we use today as a source of inspiration to plan the next trip, the same one that provides information about the destination we are going to visit and that provides a preview of the experience we are going to live.
