Louvre exhibit of carefully selected works brings French flavour to Quebec

By: Andy Blatchford, THE CANADIAN PRESS QUEBEC - Quebec City's 400th birthday celebrations are attracting flocks of tourists for massive fireworks spectacles, street performers in garments of yore and a lineup of aging A-and B-list rock stars. But for art admirers, the year-long party's masterpieces rest inside the city's Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec, where more than 250 carefully selected works borrowed from Paris's illustrious Louvre are on display. The exposition showcases works from ages such as Pharaonic Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and the European Middle Ages. Highlights of the 274 pieces include Henri-Joseph Ruxthiel's sculpture Zephyrus and Psyche, preparatory drawings by Antoine Coypel for his paintings on the ceiling of the royal chapel of the Chateau de Versailles, and the 600-year-old French... [read full story]