Cattle in the spotlight. Our week began with the opening of the Paris Agricultural Show on February 22 and the essential presidential wanderings in the aisles. Georges Pompidou would be the first to have caressed the cows. The cow that attracts everyone's attention this year is Ideal. The face of this lounge, this beautiful Charolaise weighs a ton.
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The largest farm in France opens its doors this Saturday, February 22, in Paris. Born in 1964, the international agricultural fair is a sort of extension of the General Agricultural Competition organized in 1870, to reward the most beautiful animals. This competition moved to Porte de Versailles in 1925. After the interruption due to the war, the salon was reborn in 1950, still faithful to the Porte de Versailles. An almost compulsory meeting for many political figures, the salon saw the presidents of the Fifth Republic parade, with the exception of François Mitterrand who shunned the meeting. In the early days, presidents went there with less regularity than today. Credit: Rue des Archives #salondelagriculture #paris #portedeversailles #Paris #farm # 1972 #pompidou
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Also impressive is the Boeuf Gras of the Paris carnival which was held on Sunday February 23 . An old custom scrolls through music one or more oxen decorated during the festivities. With the theme chosen this year, "Mythical and legendary creatures", animals were also present in the costumes of the participants: 100% animal, half-man, half-beast ...
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The essential Paris Carnival returns this Sunday, February 23. At the head of this colorful parade, a cow leads the walk of fatty beef referring to a very ancient popular tradition. It dates back to Antiquity. The previous Sunday Mardi Gras, butchers were walking across the capital with their finest specimens on floats. Long interrupted, the parade of fatty beef reappeared in 1895. Le Figaro was enthusiastic and titled "Vive le bœuf gras". A whole organization is being set up for the resurrection of this procession. Le Figaro occasionally publishes a supplement with the drawings of Forain and Caran d'Ache, who imagine their "ideal procession". Credit: Caran d'Ache for Le Figaro / 1896 #carnaval #carnavaldeparis #paris #carandache
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He compares the features of the human figure to those of animals. On February 24, 1619 Charles Le Brun was born. Known to be the painter of the Sun King and of Versailles, he is also the founder of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. The artist gives lectures, in particular on physiognomy, his subject of study. In the 1670s, he thus exhibited his research in the presence of Jean-Baptiste Colbert during a conference entitled "Conference on the physiognomy of man and his relationships with those of animals", using drawings. He particularly studies the angle formed by the axes of the eyes and the eyebrows and deduces the faculties of men and the character of animals.
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The painter of the Sun King. Charles Le Brun, the king's first painter, was born on February 24, 1619 in Paris. Director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, Director of the Goblins, guard of the Cabinet of paintings and drawings of the king, this artist combines titles and honors. We owe him many decorations, the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, the gallery of Apollo at the Louvre, the gallery of mirrors or the war room at the castle of Versailles. During the 1660s, Charles Le Brun deepened the study of animals as part of a theoretical study devoted to physiognomy, making it possible to compare the features of the human figure and that of animals (our illustration). Credit: Wikimedias commons #charleslebrun #art #peinture
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It is also about relationships between humans and animals with John Steinbeck, born February 27, 1902 . The American writer publishes Mice and men - the title of which is taken from a verse by the poet Robert Burns: "The best conceived plans of mice and men often do not come true" - in 1937. In his novel a main protagonist, Lennie, likes to stroke the skin of rabbits and mice.
Steinbeck draws on his experience as a farm worker (he held this job some time after leaving school) to write this story which denounces the misery, the violence of human relationships that occurred with the crisis of 1929. His two heroes, day laborers work from ranch to ranch to realize their common dream: to acquire a farm, to have a home. Without succeeding. The author's quest is to discover the secret formula for "writing quality news, even great news". This is how he declared in Le Figaro Littéraire in 1967: "Over the years I have written many stories and I still do not know how to do it, if not write it and take my chance. "
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John Steinbeck, born February 27, 1902, spent his childhood in California in the middle of the countryside: this land will be the setting for his future novels. His first success "Tortilla Flat" dates from 1935: he stages the daily life there of a group of Hispanic-Americans who spends his time drinking and dreaming. The writer is attached to social themes, denounces the misery of men. "In a doubtful fight" (1936) and "Mice and men" (1937) are great social novels. Famous for his "Grapes of Wrath", the American novelist received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962. Credit: Wikimedia commons #JohnSteinbeck #litterature #litteratureamericaine
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