Rue de Rivoli, Arc de Triomphe, Madeleine...Le Paris de Napoléon
Mercredi 5 mai 2021, cela fera 200 ans que Napoléon est mort. La rue de Rivoli, l'Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, la Madeleine, entre autres, témoignent de son action à Paris.
Paris ne serait pas la ville qu’elle est si Napoléon, dont c’est le bicentenaire de la mort le 5 mai 2021, n’y avait pas imprimé sa marque. De la rue de Rivoli à l’Arc de Triomphe, en passant par les canaux ou la colonne Vendôme, retour sur ces lieux de la capitale où plane l’ombre de l’Empereur.
Lorsque l’on évoque la rue de Rivoli, on pense immédiatement à Haussmann. Avec justesse puisque l’on doit au baron les parties centrale et orientale afin de la connecter à la rue Saint-Antoine et de créer ainsi un grand axe est-ouest dans le centre de Paris. Mais avant, la partie occidentale de la rue (qui correspond à peu près à la partie aux arcades) a été percée sous le Premier Empire.
S’inspirant d’un projet révolutionnaire de 1793, Napoléon, devenu Premier Consul, fit édicter le 17 vendémiaire an X (9 octobre 1801) un décret ordonnant une série de percements entre le jardin des Tuileries, la place Vendôme, la rue Saint-Honoré et la rue Saint-Florentin, sur les jardins des couvents de l’Assomption, des Capucines et des Feuillants.
La nouvelle rue ainsi tracée prit le nom de Rivoli en souvenir de la plus célèbre bataille de la Première campagne d’Italie. Elle permit également d’ouvrir deux voies perpendiculaires, les rues de Castiglione et des Pyramides.
Par un décret du 15 mars 1801, Bonaparte décida la construction d’un pont reliant le Louvre et le collège des Quatre-Nations aujourd’hui l’Institut. Entre 1801 et 1804, une passerelle de neuf arches en fonte réservée aux piétons est construite à l’emplacement de l’actuel pont des Arts : c’est le premier pont métallique de Paris.
Pas forcément au goût de Napoléon : « Cela n’a aucune apparence de solidité ; ce pont n’a rien de grandiose ; je conçois qu’en Angleterre, où la pierre est rare, on emploie le fer pour des arcs de grande dimension ; mais en France, où tout abonde… » Le pont s’effondre en 1979 avant d’être remonté en 1992.
Si Louis XV avait posé la première pierre de l’édifice en 1763, la Révolution française stoppa les travaux alors que les fûts des colonnes de la Madeleine s’élevaient jusqu’à la hauteur des chapiteaux.
Finalement, le 2 décembre 1806, au camp de Poznań en Pologne, l’Empereur Napoléon Ier signait un décret pour l’édification d’un temple à la gloire des Armées françaises : « le Monument dont l’Empereur vous appelle aujourd’hui à tracer le projet sera le plus auguste, le plus imposant de tous ceux que sa vaste imagination a conçus et que son activité prodigieuse sait faire exécuter. C’est la récompense que le vainqueur des Rois et des Peuples, le fondateur des empires, décerne à son armée victorieuse sous ses ordres et par son génie. La postérité dira : il fit des héros et sut récompenser l’héroïsme ».
Après la campagne de Russie de 1812, Napoléon renonça au temple de la Gloire, et revint au projet primitif d’une église. Il ne verra jamais le btiment achevé en 1842.
Napoléon Ier, au lendemain de la bataille d’Austerlitz, déclare aux soldats français : « Vous ne rentrerez dans vos foyers que sous des arcs de triomphe», faisant ainsi référence aux arcs de triomphe érigés sous l’Empire romain afin de commémorer un général vainqueur défilant à la tête de ses troupes. Par un décret impérial daté du 18 février 1806, il ordonne la construction de cet arc de triomphe consacré à perpétuer le souvenir des victoires des armées françaises.
Il pense à un emplacement près de la Bastille avant d’opter pour la place de l’Etoile. La première pierre est posée en 15 août 1806 et le monument sera inauguré trente ans plus tard. On y retrouve notamment gravées les noms des grandes batailles de la Révolution et de l’Empire.
Un autre arc aux Tuileries
Napoléon aura initié deux arcs. Le premier est construit sur la place du Carrousel. Plus petit que les autres avec ses 14,6 mètres. Ordonné en 1806 comme son cousin du rond-point de l’Étoile, il est achevé en 1808. À cette époque, il était dans la cour du palais des Tuileries, qui sera détruit par un incendie lors de La Commune de Paris, en 1871, et rasé en 1883. Aujourd’hui, il est dans la perspective unissant le Louvre, le jardin des Tuileries et les Champs-Élysées.
En 1808, Napoléon Ier décida de faire construire un édifice particulier pour abriter la Bourse de Paris contrainte de déménager à plusieurs reprises. L’Empereur confie la construction de l’édifice à l’architecte Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart.
Il souhaite ainsi voir s’élever un emblème de la puissance et de l’accomplissement auxquels la France est parvenue. Ni Brongniart ni l’Empereur ne verront l’édifice achevé en 1825.
Erigée sur ordre de Napoléon Ier de 1806 à 1810 pour commémorer la bataille d’Austerlitz, celle que l’on nomme la colonne Vendôme sur la place éponyme a été ensuite détruite lors de la Commune de Paris en 1871, avant d’être reconstruite sous sa forme actuelle. Au fil des années, elle reçoit les noms de colonne d’Austerlitz, puis colonne de la Victoire avant de devenir colonne de la Grande Armée.
Elle culmine à 44,3 mètres et mesure environ 3,60 mètres de diamètre moyen. Réalisée de pierres parées de bronze, elle est posée sur un socle et surmontée par une statue de Napoléon Ier.
Cette fontaine fut commandée en 1806 par Napoléon Ier à Emmanuel Crétet son ministre de l’intérieur, pour commémorer ses victoires (Lodi, Arcole, Rivoli, Pyramides, Mont Thabor, Marengo, Austerlitz, Ulm, Iena, Eylau, Dantzig, Friedland) et pour délivrer de l’eau potable gratuite aux Parisiens.
Terminée en 1808, elle a la forme d’une colonne ornée au sommet de feuilles de palmiers, d’où son nom. Son fût porte une liste des victoires de Napoléon en Italie, en Égypte et dans d’autres pays.
Sous le Second Empire, la place du Chtelet fut transformée et agrandie, et en 1858 le monument entier fut déplacé de 12 mètres vers l’Ouest, pour être placé au centre de la nouvelle place
Les canaux : Pour acheminer l’eau dans Paris et faciliter le transport de marchandises et de personnes, Napoléon ordonne la construction des canaux de l’Ourcq, de Saint-Martin et de Saint-Denis. Le réseau est progressivement inauguré au cours des années 1820.
Les numéros des immeubles : C’est un décret de 1805 qui définit le système de numérotation actuel. La disposition des numéros est déterminée par la situation de la rue relativement à la Seine.
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Napoleon’s Forgotten First Battle: La Maddalena, 1793
Napoleon got his first taste of battle in February 1793 at the siege of La Maddalena. By the year’s end, Napoleon was a general and a hero.
Jun 6, 2024 • By Dale Pappas, PhD Modern European History, MA History, BA History, Italian Studies
Napoleon’s name is synonymous with French history. But before Napoleon rose to power in France, he dreamed of becoming influential in his native Corsica. In fact, Napoleon made many decisions in his early life, believing that it could help further his career in Corsica rather than France. However, Napoleon’s participation in the failed attempt to seize La Maddalena in February 1793 contributed to a shift in his thinking about Corsica. By the end of 1793, this Corsican patriot had emerged as a rising star of the French Republic.
Napoleon’s Homeland: Corsica
Decorative Map of Corsica by Victor Levasseur, 1861. Source: Wikipedia Commons
In his book TheSocial Contract (1762), Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote of Corsica, “I have a presentiment that one day this small island will astonish Europe.” Indeed, the rebellion launched by the islanders against Genoese rule in the 1760s captured Europe’s attention. Even people in distant Boston and Philadelphia admired Corsica’s rebellious spirit. They tried to emulate it in opposing British policies on the eve of the American Revolution.
Corsican rebels continued their fight against the French, who purchased the north Mediterranean island of Corsica from Genoa in 1768. France formally annexed Corsica the following year and appointed Charles Louis de Marbeuf as the island’s governor.
But Rousseau’s statement equally applies to the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769. He was the second son of Carlo and Letizia Buonaparte. Despite aristocratic lineage, Napoleon’s parents were Corsican revolutionaries determined to upend Genoese rule. At first, they also backed resistance to the French, but soon realized loyalty presented opportunities for the family.
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Napoleon’s Youth
Napoleon Studying at Auxonne, 1788, by François Flameng. Source: Wikipedia Commons
Thanks to his family’s close ties to Marbeuf, Napoleon received admission to one of France’s military academies. Napoleon started school in France at age nine, first in Autun and then in Brienne. The young Napoleon impressed his instructors as he advanced through different academies.
Although initially recommended for naval service because of his knack for mathematics, Napoleon was soon placed on track for a career in the prestigious artillery branch of the French army. In 1785, he received his first commission in the French army as a lieutenant.
However, Napoleon longed to return to Corsica and found adjusting to life in France difficult. Indeed, at this point, Napoleon still signed his name “Napoleone di Buonaparte” rather than the Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite his promising academic record and French military commission, Napoleon spent most of the years 1786-1788 on leave from his regiment. Most of that time was spent in Corsica.
Napoleon grew interested in and supported republican ideals as the French Revolution unfolded. But at this stage, Napoleon saw the French Revolution as an opportunity for Corsica’s independence. In other words, Napoleon still saw his future in Corsica rather than Paris.
Painting by Jacques-Louis David. Napoleon in his office'.
5 May marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte. He is still the most famous ruler France has ever had. Despite his contradictory nature, he is undoubtedly one of the most important personalities in history. Many generations of French people have been filled with admiration, pride and unremitting interest in studying the life of the "little corporal" who became emperor.
Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica. He became a successful and popular military leader and came to power in France in 1799. This was not enough for the ambitious Napoleon: he later crowned himself emperor.
With his armies, he conquered large parts of Europe in those years. However, the campaign in Russia in 1812 ended in defeat. Napoleon was exiled to Elba. But he escaped and within 100 days he was back in power in France. In 1815 he was finally defeated at Waterloo. The English bring him to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he finally dies in 1821, at the age of 51.
Was Napoleon a Freemason? Historians have no document that could confirm this, but there are some undeniable facts that show Napoleon's strong affiliation with Freemasonry. It was thanks to Napoleon that Freemasonry spread in Europe. He changed Freemasonry from a secret society, as it was until then, to almost an official state religion and united all French Lodges in the Grand Orient de France. On his native island of Corsica, Bonaparte grew up surrounded by Freemasons. His father and all three of his brothers were Freemasons, so there was undoubtedly a lot of talk about Freemasonry.
The youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860) was initiated into Freemasonry at the age of 17 in the Mir Lodge in the east of Toulon. His Masonic career developed rapidly. A year later, in 1801, he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Westphalia, and in 1807 Napoleon made him King.
The elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), was initiated into the Loge La Parfaite Sincérité (The Perfect Sincerity) in the east of Marseille. In 1804 he became Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France and King of Naples, then King of Spain.
Finally, Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), father of the future Napoleon III, served as Deputy Grand Master from 1803 to 1806, before being succeeded by Jean-Jacques Regis Cambasseres.
Napoleon's wife, Empress Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), was initiated into a women's lodge in Strasbourg and held the position of Grand Master for some time.
Eugène de Beauharnais, Josephine's only son from her first marriage, at the age of 24, who had been given the title of Viceroy of Italy by her stepfather, became the founder of the Grand Orient of Italy and the High Council of Italy.
The support of Freemasonry in Europe by Napoleon, caused an unprecedented stir. Many soldiers, politicians, nobility and citizens wanted to become members of Freemasonry. Twenty-two of Napoleon's thirty Marshals, five of the six members of the Imperial Military Council and six of the nine government ministers were Freemasons. The reign of Bonaparte can be called the golden age of Freemasonry. In the 18 years that he was in power, the number of Masonic lodges in France increased from 300 to 1220, of which a large part were military lodges. Napoleon saw in Freemasonry a powerful tool to unite the army, which was very useful for his European ambitions.
Napoleon's Grande Armée, crosses the Berezyna River.
During his military operations in Europe, the International Brotherhood was an ideal instrument. Freemasonry, however, responded to the Emperor with reciprocity. Busts of the emperor were installed in many Masonic temples and any criticism of his rule was considered provocation. In 1801, the Loge Bonaparte was founded in Paris with the main task of glorifying the emperor's name. The lodge successfully survived exile and Napoleon's death and was not closed until 1871. It withstood the reactionary years thanks to the fact that it was carefully renamed Moderation Lodge.
It was the military officers, subordinates of Bonaparte, who took part in the Egyptian expedition that brought Freemasonry to the banks of the Nile. General Kleber founded Loge Isis in Cairo, also founded by Napoleon.
But the question remains. Although Napoleon made Freemasonry a part of his government policy, was he an active Mason? If he wanted to become a member, he would immediately receive the highest and most honourable title in the Order. If we know the character of Napoleon, the answer to this question is quite clear: it was not enough that he was "first among equals", he had to be "above" equality. The Bonaparte family came from an old Florentine aristocratic family. Napoleon had every right to add the title of Count to his family name, but he never took advantage of this opportunity. But neither did he want to be called a friar. For the same reason Napoleon once renounced the title of Marshal - it was enough for him that he was "de facto" commander-in-chief of the French army. Ranks and titles were in no way attractive to him. Napoleon was only interested in absolute power. After he was crowned Emperor of France, Napoleon got his ambition. He called the imperial throne, "a piece of wood" and sitting at the dinner table with the nobility of Europe, he would sometimes remark, "When I had the honor of being a junior lieutenant..." .
L'empereur had a nose for propaganda. When it was necessary to demonstrate the wealth and power of his empire, he was not stingy. His palaces were richly decorated with gold and the court was the most refined in Europe.
Coronation of Napoleon I as Emperor of France. Notre Dame, Paris. December 2, 1804.
After he became Emperor, Napoleon remained closely involved in Masonic affairs. At the execution site of King Louis XVI, he ordered an obelisk to be erected with a Masonic symbol, a five-pointed star. A bee, a Masonic symbol, was used in the creation of his personal imperial coat of arms. The bee is a very old symbol. In ancient Egypt, it accompanied the goddess Isis and had many meanings. For Napoleon, the bee meant a willingness to sacrifice for the country and the ability to rebirth.
Shortly after Napoleon came to power, on 22 June 1799, a nine-article memorandum was signed between the two largest French Grand Lodges, laying down specific rules. In particular, the Honorable Master was stripped of his exclusive privileges. A system for the election of officials was made compulsory for all lodges. Only a few Lodges in the Scottish Rite refused to join the Memorandum.
Thus, the fragmented French Freemasonry became a unified and homogeneous system, fully supported by Napoleon. Soon the 'Regulator of Freemasonry' was published - a set of rules and rituals for the lodges of Le Grand Orient de France. The Lodges under the Scottish Rite also made appropriate changes to their rules, but this took three years. As a result, the rituals were still not identical, but there was one Supreme Council of the 33rd degree. The decisions of this council were binding. The Emperor could influence every decision, as the High Council was meanwhile headed by his elder brother Joseph, who had become the Grand Master.
The 'Regulator of Freemasonry', which unified the activities of Freemasons, became a document that organically continued the reforms of Napoleon, along with the Constitution, the Civil Code, the system of universal education, a single award system of the state (the Order of the Legion of Honour), etc.
An engraving with a list of members of Loge Bonaparte. On the left is Bonaparte and on the right is Jean-Baptiste Willermose (1730-1824), who designed a system of High Degrees for Freemasonry in France and Germany.
Following France, the Freemasons of other European countries began to combine their rituals into one system. Marshal of the realm, Freemason Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, who became crown prince of Sweden, reformed the Swedish rite. The system of 12 Masonic degrees still exists.
Friedrich Ludwig Schröder, Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg, inspired by the ancient rites of the Knights Templar, developed his Rite, limited to three symbolic degrees. Today it is practised in some lodges in Germany, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland.
In Spain, the Grand Master Count François Joseph Paul de Grass also established a Masonic hierarchy under the leadership of the Supreme Council.
In 1806, to celebrate his triumph at Austerlitz, Napoleon decided to build the Arc de Triomphe. A team of builders and architects, composed entirely of Freemasons, was set up to carry out the project. Brother Jean-Baptiste Nomper de Champagny proposed the concept and chose the building site. The original plan was designed by the architect Charles-Louis Balzac (Loge Le Grand Sphinx, Paris) and the architect Jean-Francois Chalgren (Loge L'etoile Polaire, Paris). Freemasons created the relief on the arch. The sculptors François Rueud (north side, composition "Marseillaise") and Jean-Pierre Corto (south side, composition "Le monde viennoise"). The official government architect, Maison Pierre Fontaine, supervised the construction.
On the engraving from 1860, under the shadow of the emperor above whom The Eye of the Providence shines, are 61 historical figures from his time. On the left are Désé, Cambassaire, Kleber and the commanders Davaux, Lannes, Murat, Lasalle, Mathieu Dumas, among others. On the right: Washington, Frederick the Great, Alessandro Volta, Diderot, Lased, Lafayette, Parmatier, Helvetia.
Following the military leaders, Napoleonic Freemasonry was enthusiastically received by the most prominent figures of science and culture in France:
Pierre Simon de Laplace - mathematician, physicist and astronomer, one of the creators of probability and differential equations,
Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt - chemist, pharmacist and writer, founder of one of the first scientific journals, Le Bulletin Pharmalogique,
Artist Pierre Prudon (Loge Charity, Bonn),
Artist Francois Gérard (Loge Le Grand Sphinx, Paris),
Portrait painter Jean-Baptiste Isabé (Loge Saint Napoleon, Paris),
Actor Francois-Joseph Talma, reformer of theatrical art (Loge Union, Paris),
Academician Pierre Jean Georges Cabanie, physiologist and philosopher (Loge Les Neuf Sœurs, Paris),
Academician Joseph Lacanal, professor of philosophy, member of the monastery, organiser of the education system in France (Loge Le Point Idéal, Paris),
writer, publicist and politician Henri-Benjamin Constant, the most important representatives of French Romanticism in literature,
sculptor Claude Claudion (Les Amis Fidèles, Paris),
Alexander Bognard, professor of natural sciences, chemist, pharmacist, geologist, zoologist, botanist and palaeontologist (Loge Saint-Jean-du-Contrat, Paris),
architect Pierre Fontaine,
composer André Gretry, creator of the French comic opera,
Composer Luigi Cherubini, creator of the genre "opera salvage" (Loge Saint Jean de Palestine, Paris).
The legacy of Napoleon.
Perhaps the most famous legacy of Napoleon. He introduced the civil registry in the areas where he had power, in the Netherlands in 1811. Births, marriages, everything had to be registered from then on. Family names were already being used, but this ensured that your ancestors adopted their definitive family name. Useful for when you are doing genealogical research. But Napoleon simply wanted a good overview, so that he could levy taxes more easily.
When you get into your car now, you drive on the right side of the road. Thanks to Napoleon. In earlier times, knights on horseback rode on the left, so that they could more easily wield their sword or lance with their right hand. The rich French bourgeoisie stuck to the left. The common people usually walked on the right. But since the French Revolution in 1789, everyone was officially equal. Therefore, Napoleon decreed that right-handedness became the norm. It was also more convenient with the carriages and carts in those days. Countries which he did not conquer, such as Great Britain, continued to drive on the left.
Thanks to the French, we also have street names with even and odd house numbers. This system was first used in Paris, and later in all conquered regions. We also owe paved roads to Napoleon, who wanted straight lines between cities. Handy for moving his troops, of course. In France, these roads were called the Route Nationale; in Europe they are called Napoleon roads. The Amsterdamsestraatweg in Utrecht is an example of this. It was built by order of Napoleon in 1812, as part of the Route Impériale between Paris and Amsterdam.
A kilo of potatoes, a litre of milk, and, let's say, a metre of beer. Standard measures and measurements. Napoleon introduced the metric system in 1799. Before that, all kinds of different measures were used in Europe, such as inches, ells and feet. Napoleon found this inconvenient and confusing in his empire. And even if you don't realise it, you probably have to deal with it every day.
According to Napoleon himself, his most important legacy: the Code Napoleon, or the Code Civil. The French Civil Code, which laid down the principles of 'liberty, equality and fraternity', but also the separation of church and state, served as inspiration for law books in many countries. Napoleon eventually made his code compulsory in the Netherlands as well. By the way, equal rights did not apply to women in those Napoleonic days.
Abattoir, desk, purse, all words that came into vogue during the French era here in the Netherlands. From 1810 to 1813, French was even an official language here, alongside Dutch. It was also compulsory in education. Napoleon also carried out reforms there. Teachers became obliged to teach in class. Parents had to pay school fees. And he introduced the final exam.
Napoleon appointed his brother Louis king of the Netherlands in 1806, in order to retain as much influence as possible. This makes the Netherlands a kingdom for the first time. It forms the basis for the later monarchy. Iek ben konijn van Olland', said the French Louis when he took office, as he had difficulty with the Dutch pronunciation.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Brother Louis Napoleon took up residence in the Town Hall on Dam Square, which has since become known as the Palace on Dam Square. He made Amsterdam the capital, and founded institutions that we still know today, such as the Rijksmuseum, the Royal Library and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
Another striking structure that we owe to the Napoleons: the Pyramid of Austerlitz, near Woudenberg in Utrecht. A 17 metre high homage to Napoleon, constructed by French troops who were stationed there for a few months in 1804. The name Pyramid of Austerlitz was actually invented by Louis Napoleon. It is the place in the Czech Republic where his imperial brother defeated Russian and Austrian armies in a legendary battle.
Although not his invention, Napoleon did provide the impetus. In 1800, he offered a cash prize to anyone who could think of a way to keep food fresh for longer. After all, he needed this for his soldiers during their campaigns. French cook Nicolas Appert discovered pickling. By boiling vegetables in sealed bottles to kill the bacteria, they stayed good longer. Glass was too fragile for soldiers, so the canning jar was invented.
After the battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon lost his power and began his exile on the island of Elba, the golden age of the French Lodges came to an end. The restoration of the Bourbons as rulers and the persecution of the Bonapartists made activities of most Masonic Lodges downright dangerous. But even the dissolved Lodges were not closed. According to Masonic tradition, they were only declared as "sleeping Lodges". After the deposition of Louis Napoleon III and the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1870, French Freemasonry experienced its second golden age, thanks to the Napoleonic era.
Paris is known today as the City of Lights. Thousands of years ago it was called Midwater-Dwelling—which is how its Latin name, Lutetia, can be translated. This list covers just a few of the most notable structures built in Paris over all of these years.
Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared in 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die, edited by Mark Irving (2016). Writers’ names appear in parentheses.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris has been the cathedral of the city of Paris since the Middle Ages. It is a Gothic exemplar of a radical change in the Romanesque tradition of construction, both in terms of naturalistic decoration and revolutionary engineering techniques. In particular, via a framework of flying buttresses, external arched struts receive the lateral thrust of high vaults and provide sufficient strength and rigidity to allow the use of relatively slender supports in the main arcade. The cathedral stands on the Île de la Cité, an island in the middle of the River Seine, on a site previously occupied by Paris’s first Christian church, the Basilica of Saint-Étienne, as well as an earlier Gallo-Roman temple to Jupiter, and the original Notre-Dame, built by Childebert I, the king of the Franks, in 528. Maurice de Sully, the bishop of Paris, began construction in 1163 during the reign of King Louis VII, and building continued until 1330. The spire was erected in the 1800s during a renovation by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, though it was destroyed by fire in 2019.
The western facade is the distinguishing feature of the cathedral. It comprises the Gallery of Kings, a horizontal row of stone sculptures; a rose window glorifying the Virgin, who also appears in statue form below; the Gallery of Chimeras; two unfinished square towers; and three portals, those of the Virgin, the Last Judgment, and St. Anne, with richly carved sculptures around the ornate doorways. The circular rose window in the west front and two more in the north and south transept crossings, created between 1250 and 1270, are masterpieces of Gothic engineering. The stained glass is supported by delicate radiating webs of carved stone tracery. (Jeremy Hunt)
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion built for the prince and princess de Soubise. In 1700 François de Rohan bought the Hôtel de Clisson, and in 1704 the architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair (1675–1745) was hired to renovate and remodel the building. Delamair designed the huge courtyard on the Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. On the far side of the courtyard is a facade with twin colonnades topped by a series of statues by Robert Le Lorrain representing the four seasons.
In 1708 Delamair was replaced by Germain Boffrand (1667–1754), who carried out all the interior decoration for the apartments for the prince’s son, Hercule-Mériadec de Rohan-Soubise, on the ground floor and for the princess on the piano nobile (principal floor), both of which featured oval salons looking into the garden.
The interiors are considered among the finest Rococo decorative interiors in France. In the prince’s salon, the wood paneling is painted a pale green and surmounted by plaster reliefs. The princess’s salon is painted white with delicate gilded moldings and features arched niches containing mirrors, windows, and panels. Above the panels are shallow arches containing cherubs and eight paintings by Charles Natoire depicting the history of Psyche. Plaster rocailles (shellwork) and a decorative band of medallions and shields complete the sweetly disordered effect. At the time of the French Revolution, the building was given to the National Archives. A Napoleonic decree of 1808 granted the residence to the state. (Jeremy Hunt)
Panthéon
The Panthéon is the quintessential Neoclassical monument in Paris and an outstanding example of Enlightenment architecture. Commissioned as the church of St. Geneviève by King Louis XV, the project has become known as a secular building and a prestigious tomb dedicated to great French political and artistic figures including Mirabeau, Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, Zola, Curie, and Malraux, who have been honored and interred in the vaults following the ceremony of Panthéonization.
Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713–80) was a self-taught architect and tutor to the marquis de Marigny, general director of the king’s buildings, who had been influenced by the Pantheon in Rome. Soufflot claimed that his principal aim was to unite “the structural lightness of Gothic churches with the purity and magnificence of Greek architecture.” His Panthéon was revolutionary: built on the Greek cross plan of a central dome and four equal transepts, his innovation in construction was to use rational scientific and mathematical principles to determine structural formulas for the engineering of the building. This eliminated many of the supporting piers and walls with the result that the vaulting and interiors are slender and elegant. The Neoclassical interior contrasts with the solidity and austere geometry of the exterior. The initial scheme was considered too lacking in gravity and was replaced with a more funereal scheme, which involved blocking 40 windows and destroying the original sculptural decorations. The Panthéon was the location for Léon Foucault’s pendulum experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth in 1851. (Jeremy Hunt)
Arc de Triomphe
Arc de TriompheNighttime view of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris.
The Arc de Triomphe is one of the world’s largest triumphal arches. Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome, it was commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz, to commemorate all the victories of the French army; it has since engendered a worldwide military taste for triumphal and nationalistic monuments.
The astylar design consists of a simple arch with a vaulted passageway topped by an attic. The monument’s iconography includes four main allegorical sculptural reliefs on the four pillars of the Arc. The Triumph of Napoleon, 1810, by Jean-Pierre Cortot, shows an imperial Napoleon, wearing a laurel wreath and toga, accepting the surrender of a city while Fame blows a trumpet. There are two reliefs by Antoine Etex: Resistance, depicting an equestrian figure and a naked soldier defending his family, protected by the spirit of the future, and Peace, in which a warrior protected by Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, is sheathing his sword surrounded by scenes of agricultural laborers. The Departure of the Volunteers of ’92, commonly called La Marseillaise, by François Rude, presents naked and patriotic figures, led by Bellona, goddess of war, against the enemies of France. In the vault of the Arc de Triomphe are engraved the names of 128 battles of the Republican and Napoleonic regimes. The attic is decorated with 30 shields, each inscribed with a military victory, and the inner walls list the names of 558 French generals, with those who died in battle underlined.
The arch has subsequently become a symbol of national unity and reconciliation as the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. He was interred here on Armistice Day, 1920; today there is an eternal flame commemorating the dead of two world wars. (Jeremy Hunt)
Church of St. Mary Magdalene
In 1806 Napoleon commissioned Pierre-Alexandre Vignon, inspector–general of buildings of the Republic, to build a Temple to the Glory of the Great Army and provide a monumental view to the north of Place de la Concorde. Known as ”The Madeleine,” this church was designed as a Neoclassical temple surrounded by a Corinthian colonnade, reflecting the predominant taste for Classical art and architecture. The proposal of the Arc de Triomphe, however, reduced the original commemorative intention for the temple, and, after the fall of Napoleon, King Louis XVIII ordered that the church be consecrated to St. Mary Magdalene in Paris in 1842.
The Madeleine has no steps at the sides but a grand entrance of 28 steps at each end. The church’s exterior is surrounded by 52 Corinthian columns, 66 feet (20 meters) high. The pediment sculpture of Mary Magdalene at the Last Judgment is by Philippe-Henri Lemaire; bronze relief designs in the church doors represent the Ten Commandments.
The 19th-century interior is lavishly gilded. Above the altar is a statue of the ascension of St. Mary Magdalene by Charles Marochetti and a fresco by Jules-Claude Ziegler, The History of Christianity, with Napoleon as the central figure surrounded by such luminaries as Michelangelo, Constantine, and Joan of Arc. (Jeremy Hunt)
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