--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: then we would enter what he called his…" description: "\"“then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room whose walls were hung with prints which showed, against a dark background, a pink and fleshy go..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg" --- # then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room… ![“then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room whose walls were hung with prints which showed, against a dark background, a pink and fleshy goddess driving a chariot, or standing upon a globe, or wearing a star on her brow—pictures which were popular under the Second Empire because there…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg) > ““then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room whose walls were hung with prints which showed, against a dark background, a pink and fleshy goddess driving a chariot, or standing upon a globe, or wearing a star on her brow—pictures which were popular under the Second Empire because there was thought to be something about them that suggested Pompeii, which were then generally despised, and which are now becoming fashionable again for one single and consistent reason (notwithstanding all the others that are advanced), namely, that they suggest the Second Empire.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes a study filled with erotic, mythic images reflecting the Second Empire’s fascination with exoticism and decadence. **In simple terms:** A room of sensual, mythic art reflecting a historic era. Key Takeaway Explore how art mirrors cultural obsession. Themes art history decadence Mood reflective analytical Type literary historical When to use this quote - museum curation - interior design - historical analysis Key Concepts cultural symbolism era aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - What does this reveal about the era? - How do we reinterpret such art today? A Different Perspective May glorify problematic past aesthetics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Pompeii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pompeii/) ## Related quotes > [“M. Zola sits down to give us a picture of the Second Empire. Who cares for the Second Empire now? It is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/m-zola-sits-down-to-give-us-a-picture-of-the-second-empire-who-cares/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which force of habit made permanent. Nature, like the destruction of Pompeii, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-features-of-our-face-are-hardly-more-than-gestures-which-force-of/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Pompeii, especially, with its grand murals and its flourishing gardens haunted by the dark shadow of Vesuvius, has always suggested uncomfortable parallels with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-antin/pompeii-especially-with-its-grand-murals-and-its-flourishing-gardens/) [Eleanor Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-antin/) > [Each generation thinks it invented sex; each generation is totally mistaken. Anything along that line today was commonplace both in Pompeii and in Victorian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/each-generation-thinks-it-invented-sex-each-generation-is-totally/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Put a compass to paper and trace a circle. Then tell me which other country has such a concentration of places like Amalfi, Naples,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-della-valle/put-a-compass-to-paper-and-trace-a-circle-then-tell-me-which-other/) [Diego Della Valle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-della-valle/) > [People will perish, but books are immortal. (Pompeii)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/people-will-perish-but-books-are-immortal-pompeii/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“At times I see them as if I were walking through the streets of Pompeii before the eruption of Vesuvius. This is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-junger/at-times-i-see-them-as-if-i-were-walking-through-the-streets-of/) [Ernst Jünger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-junger/) > [ We mixed the sounds ourselves. If they were going to put the sound back onto our film \[Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii.\], we wanted… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gilmour/we-mixed-the-sounds-ourselves-if-they-were-going-to-put-the-sound/) [David Gilmour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gilmour/) > [ I haven't watched it \[the film 'Pink Floyd at Pompeii'\] in years. I find it excruciating. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gilmour/i-haven-t-watched-it-the-film-pink-floyd-at-pompeii-in-years-i-find/) [David Gilmour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gilmour/) > [Unless companies change these rules, any superficial re-organizations they perform will be no more effective than dusting the furniture in Pompeii.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martin-hammer/unless-companies-change-these-rules-any-superficial-re-organizations/) [Michael Martin Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-martin-hammer/) > [Adrian Maben came to us with the idea. And we just thought, "Well, why not?" I don't think any of us thought it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gilmour/adrian-maben-came-to-us-with-the-idea-and-we-just-thought-well-why/) [David Gilmour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gilmour/) > [People perish. Books are immortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/people-perish-books-are-immortal/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [One of the things that struck me when I was a kid and I was learning about Pompeii was these figures that were frozen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/one-of-the-things-that-struck-me-when-i-was-a-kid-and-i-was-learning/) [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) > [“Just the idea of seeing the ruins of Pompeii in person makes me ache deep inside. Then there’s Darren, no longer off limits. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-rae/just-the-idea-of-seeing-the-ruins-of-pompeii-in-person-makes-me-ache/) [Kristin Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-rae/) > ['Pompeii' will be PG-13. I think it has to have a level of violence and death in it because you've got a volcano exploding.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/pompeii-will-be-pg-13-i-think-it-has-to-have-a-level-of-violence-and/) [Paul W. S. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-w-s-anderson/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room whose walls were hung with prints which showed, against a dark background, a pink and fleshy goddess driving a chariot, or standing upon a globe, or wearing a star on her brow—pictures which were popular under the Second Empire because there was thought to be something about them that suggested Pompeii, which were then generally despised, and which are now becoming fashionable again for one single and consistent reason (notwithstanding all the others that are advanced), namely, that they suggest the Second Empire.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-study-a-room-whose-walls-were/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-study-a-room-whose-walls-were/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/919/marcel-proust-114_artist_then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-s_2954601.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“then we would enter what he called his “study,” a room whose walls were hung with prints which showed…” — Marcel Proust", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“then we would enter what he...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-study-a-room-whose-walls-were/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-we-would-enter-what-he-called-his-study-a-room-whose-walls-were/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```