The Louvre Museum

Sunday, 15 December 2013

    The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, with an area of 60,600 square metres, and a historic monument. With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum.

     The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. The building was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages to form the present Louvre Palace.

     In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection. By the mid-18th century there was an increasing number of proposals to create a public gallery. And on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection. Many proposals were offered for the Louvre's renovation into a museum, however none was agreed on.

      It was during the French Revolution that the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Louvre was declared "a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts".

   The museum opened on 10 August 1793, with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property.

The collection was increased under Napoleon I and during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X. By 1870 the museum had added 20,000 new pieces to its collections.

      By 1874, the Louvre Palace had achieved its present form of an almost rectangular structure. In 1983, French President François Mitterrand proposed the Grand Louvre plan to renovate the building and relocate the Finance Ministry, allowing displays throughout the building. Architect Ieoh Ming Pei proposed a glass pyramid to stand over a new entrance in the main court, the Cour Napoléon. The pyramid and its underground lobby were inaugurated on 15 October 1988. The second phase of the Grand Louvre plan, La Pyramide Inversée (The Inverted Pyramid), was completed in 1993.

     Now, the Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

      The Louvre is a beautiful place that I will certainly visit as soon as the opportunity arises.

Andreia Codeço

Autism

Monday, 2 December 2013

      Hey everyone! This week I saw a documentary about autism and I decided that today I would speak to you about this subject... so here it is...
        Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and by restricted or repetitive behavior.

      Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether ASD is explained more by rare mutations, or by rare combinations of common genetic variants. This affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize.

      It is believed that some events before and during birth, in combination with genetic, increase child’s risk of having autism. Some of that events are: advanced parental age at time of conception (both mom and dad), maternal illness during pregnancy and certain difficulties during birth and particularly those involving periods of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain. It is important to keep in mind that these factors, by themselves, do not cause autism.

       Usually the most obvious signs and symptoms of autism tend to emerge between 2 and 3 years of age, developing gradually. If a baby or toddler doesn’t make eye contact, doesn't smile when smiled at, doesn't respond to his or her name or to the sound of a familiar voice, doesn't point or wave goodbye or use other gestures to communicate, doesn’t make noises to get your attention, doesn’t imitate your movements and facial expressions, doesn’t reach out to be picked up and doesn’t play with other people or share interest and enjoyment, then parents should start getting worried. 
      The prevalence of autism is about 1–2 per 1,000 people worldwide, and it occurs about four times more often in boys than girls. The number of people diagnosed with autism has been increasing dramatically since the 1980s. There is no established explanation for this continuing increase, although improved diagnosis and environmental influences are two reasons often considered. 
      Early behavioral, cognitive, or speech interventions can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful.

    

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