¿PORQUE NAPOLEON ERA FRANC MASON? MENSAJES SUBLIMINALES DE YHWH TODOPODEROSO
A pesar de los errores de los lideres politicos, YHWH, LOS USA PARA DARNOS MENSAJES SUBLIMINALES CON REFERENCIA AL SANTO GRIAL. ASI PASO CON ADOLF HITLER, FIDEL CASTRO, CHE GUEVARA, CHAVEZ, JUAN DOMINGO PERON, JOHN KENNEDY, ETC,ETC. NAPOLEON TIENE UN NEXO CON EL LEON, OSEA UN NEXO CON LEONARDO DAVINCI, EN EL MARCO A FRANCIA / ANK / LIBERTAD. ESE ES EL ORIGEN DEL PORQUE NAPOLEON TUVO RELACION CON EL COMPLEJO GIZE/ ORION / ISHTAR GATE. SABEMOS QUE LA ESFINGE DE GIZE, ESTA DISEÑADA EN FUNCION A AL COMIENZO DE LA ERA DE ACUARIO (PATRON DEL CALENDARIO DE NOE) EN funcion a la PRECESION DE LOS EQUINOCCIOS.
En el marco a APOCALIPSIS 12 E INCLUSO APOCALIPSIS 4:7, en funcion al movimiento de la PRECESION DEL PLANETA TIERRA EN SU MOVIMIENTO DE 25920 AÑOS, la tierra hace aproximadamente 12960 AÑOS estaba en LA ERA DE LEO y es en ese MARCO EL DISEÑO DEL COMPLEJO GIZE. LA ESFINGE (HOMBRE-LEON) ESTA DISEÑADA EN FUNCION A LA LINEA LEO-ACUARIO O ACUARIO-LEO. EN DICHA ERA, EL 21/22 DE MARZO VA A ESTAR EN ACUARIO Y EL 21/22 DE SEPTIEMBRE, OSEA EN LOS EQUINOCCIOS VA A ESTAR EN LEO. NO FUE CASUALIDAD QUE NAPOLEON VISITO EGIPTO. TODOS SON MENSAJES SUBLIMINALES DE YHWH TODOPODEROSO. CONCRETAMENTE GIZE ESTA DISEÑADO EN FUNCION A LA ERA DE ACUARIO. LEONARDO DA VINCI O EL CODIGO DA VINCI ES SINONIMO DE GIZE.
"The evidence in favor of a Masonic initiation previous to Napoleon's ... THE question whether Buonaparte was a Freemason or not has never been decided. ... "You ask me Sir, why it was that in my work on Free Masonry I did not say a word ...
Para los historiadores que se afilian a la leyenda negra de la masonería como sociedad secreta conspiradora, la historia de Napoleón Bonaparte, Le Petit ...
Napoleón Bonaparte ha sido proclamado y considerado Masón, asi como también lo han sido su padre, hermanos, e incluso los militares tenientes que se ...
27 Feb 2013 ... Les recomiendo además la novela de César Vidal, Los Hijos de la Luz (Plaza Janés, 2005), yo estuve en el jurado que la premió Con el ...
En vísperas de la revolución francesa, la masonería reunía adeptos de todas ..... «Franc-Maçonnerie et sociétés secrètes contre Napoléon» (Francmasonería y ...
Después del nacimiento en Inglaterra de la denominada masonería ... favorecido pero al mismo tiempo utilizado por el Emperador Napoleón I, ... Es un hecho simbólico que Eugène Pottier, que escribió La Internacional, fue francmasón.
The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (French: L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine), or less formally, La Madeleine, is a Catholic parish church on Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.[2][3][4] It was planned by Louis XV as the focal point of the new Rue Royal, leading to the new Place Louis XV, the present Place de la Concorde. It was dedicated in 1764 by Louis XV, but work halted due to the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte had it redesigned in the Neoclassical style to become a monument to the glory of his armies. After his downfall in 1814 construction as a church resumed, but it was not completed until 1842. The building is surrounded on all four sides by columns in the Corinthian style. The interior is noted for its frescoes on the domed ceiling, and monumental sculptures by François Rude, Charles Marochetti and other prominent 19th-century French artists.[5]
The exterior and interior of the church are undergoing a major project of cleaning and restoration, which began in 2020 and is scheduled for completion in 2023.[6][7]
The neighbourhood, then at the edge of Paris, was annexed to the city in 1722. An earlier church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine was built in the 13th century on avenue Malesherbes, but was considered too small for the growing neighbourhood. Louis XV authorised the construction of a new, larger church, with a view along Rue Royale toward the new Place Louis XV, now Place de la Concorde. In 1763 the King laid the first stone for a new church, designed by Pierre Contant d'Ivry and Guillaume-Martin Couture.[8][9][10]
The first design for the new church by Pierre Contant d'Ivry proposed a large dome atop a building in the form of Latin cross, similar to the Les Invalides church designed by Jules Hardouin Mansart. D'Ivry died in 1777 and was replaced by his pupil Guillaume Martin Couture. Couture abandoned the first plan, demolished much of the early work. and went to work on a simpler, more classical design, modelled after an ancient Greek or Roman temple.
Proposed monument to Napoleon's Army and railroad station, then church again[edit]
The construction of the new church was abruptly halted in 1789 by the French Revolution, with only the foundations and grand classical portico completed. After the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, his body was transported to the old Church of the Madeleine, which was still standing until 1801. The King's body was thrown onto bed of quicklime at the bottom of a pit and covered by one of earth, the whole being firmly and thoroughly tamped down. Louis XVI's head was placed at his feet. On 21 January 1815 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's remains were moved to a new tomb in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Under the Revolutionary government, a debate began on the future purpose of the building. Proposals included a library, a public ballroom, and a marketplace. The new building of the National Assembly, in the Palais Bourbon, at the other end of the former Rue Royale, was given a classical colonnade to match the already completed portico of church.[11] The new Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, was crowned in 1804 and in 1806 settled the debate. In 1806 he declared that the church would become "A Temple to the Glory of the Grand Army". While on a military campaign in Poland, he personally chose the design of A new architect, Pierre-Alexandre Vignon (fr: Pierre-Alexandre Vignon), over the design that was recommended to him by the Academy of Architecture.[12] The plan of Vignon took the form of a classical temple with Corinthian columns on all four sides.[13] The work began anew, with new foundations but preserving the classical columns that had already been raised.[14]
After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the new King, Louis XVIII, resumed construction on the unfinished church, which he intended to make an Expiatory chapel for the sins of the Revolution and the execution of Louis XVI. However, this idea was dropped, and the new church was instead dedication to Mary Magdalene, or the Madeleine, a follower of Jesus who witnessed both the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ.[15]
The architect Vignon died in 1828 before completing the project and was replaced by Jacques-Marie Huvé. A new competition was set up in 1828–29 to determine the design for sculptures for the pediment. The design chosen was "The Last Judgment" , depicting Saint Mary Magdalene kneeling to pray for sinners, by Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire. The new government of the July Monarchy decided to go ahead with the church, despite financial difficulties. in 1830 they declared that it would be dedicated to national reconciliation. The vaults were finally completed in 1831.[16]
Work on the church was largely completed during the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1830 and 1848. in 1837 a proposal was brought forward to convert church into the first railroad station in Paris, but this was abandoned as expensive and impractical. The church was finally inaugurated on July 24, 1842, the day of Saint Mary-Magdalene.[17]
The new church became popular with musicians. The funeral of Chopin at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris was delayed almost two weeks, until 30 October 1849. Chopin had requested that Mozart's Requiem be sung. The Requiem had major parts for female voices, but the Church of the Madeleine had never permitted female singers in its choir. The church finally relented, on condition that the female singers remain behind a black velvet curtain.
During the Paris Commune of 1871, the curé of the church, Abbé Deguerry, was one of those arrested and held hostage by the Commune. He was executed alongside Georges Darboy, the Archbishop of Paris and four other hostages on 24 May, during the Semaine sanglante, as French government troops were bloodily retaking the city and executing Communard defenders.
Según “La Leyenda dorada”, escrita en 1276, por el dominico italiano, Jacques de la Vorágine, María Magdalena era hija de Siro y Eucaria, una familia que descendía de reyes.
Su verdadero nombre era Myriam, María en hebreo. Para algunos es de origen egipcio, en ese caso significaría “amada de Dios.” Para otros significa: mar amargo, iluminada o iluminadora.
Magdalena o Magdala es un sobrenombre, según algunos es una derivación del sustantivo arameo Migdal (torre). Para otros, deriva del griego Magdalini, basándose en que los evangelios canónicos se transmitieron en esa lengua.
Para varios historiadores, la Magdalena descendía de la tribu de Benjamín, una de las doce tribus de Israel.
La fecha del 22 de julio, aparece en el martirologio anglosajón del monje Oengo, como: La Sagrada Natividad de María Magdalena. Y el 28 de marzo como: LaFiesta de su Conversión a Cristo.
En el siglo III, Hipólito, obispo de Roma, le otorga el título de Apostola Apostolorum (Apóstol de los apóstoles). Para él es la “Nueva Eva”, por la que la iglesia de los judíos, representada por la primera Eva, es ahora superada y glorificada por la Iglesia de Cristo, encarnada en Santa María Magdalena.
Los colores litúrgicos de su festividad son el blanco y el oro, como símbolo de los contemplativos.
Se cree que Juan el Bautista, comenzó su predicación en Betania, el pueblo de Marta, María y Lázaro.
Magdala, era una ciudad situada a los pies lago Tiberíades o mar de Galilea, que también era conocida por los nombres de Tariquea (que significa “pesca salada” en griego) o Dalmanuta y Gabara. En ella existían hasta ochenta hilaturas de lana fina. Era una de las tres ciudades de Galilea que aportaba una mayor contribución al Templo, hasta tres carros llenos.
Algunos historiadores, afirman que seis días antes de la Última Cena, María de Magdala ungió a Jesús en Betania. Para Mateo y Marcos esto ocurrió sólo dos días antes.
Según varios estudiosos, la Magdalena estuvo presente en el juicio a Jesús.
Según “La Contemplación” en el hogar de María de Magdala se reunieron la Virgen y las otras mujeres durante la flagelación de Cristo.
La “tradición occidental” afirma que la Magdalena llegó en una pequeña nao, junto con sus hermanos y otros cristianos, a las costas de Francia. Concretamente a un pequeño pueblo, llamado hoy “Les Saintes Maries de la Mer”, hacia el año 40 del s.I.
Si alzamos una línea recta imaginaria hacia el cielo, desde las catedrales de Francia junto a la Basílica de La Magdalena, en Vézelay, entre todas forman la conjunción de Virgo, dedicada a la Virgen María.
Desde el siglo IV hasta el siglo XIII, la comunidad religiosa de los casianistas – fundada por el presbítero Casiano-, fueron los custodios de las reliquias de la Santa, conservadas en la cripta de San Víctor. Hoy se encuentran en San Maximino (Aix -en Provence, Francia) dentro de una gran urna rematada con una escultura de bronce que representa a la Magdalena en éxtasis, obra de Alessandro Algardi.
Tras la invasión de Francia por los sarracenos en el siglo VIII, las reliquias de la Santa reaparecen el 4 de Diciembre de 1279, en la cripta de San Maximino.
En el medioevo comienza a ser representada con el tarro o alabastrorum, que significa el Eterno Femenino, el contenedor de la vida y la muerte. Anteriormente era representada con los clavos de la cruz de Cristo en sus manos, popularmente llamada “la Virgen de los clavos”.
Se dice que el tarro con que ungió a Cristo estuvo en la iglesia de San Víctor, en Marsella, según testimonio de Silvestro de Prierio en 1497. El monasterio de Saint Sever en Las Landas, afirmaba poseer parte del ungüento.
San Anselmo de Canterbury, en 1081, le dedica oración lírica.
En el 1103 el papa Pascual II, promulga una bula por la que autoriza la romería en su honor en Vézelay, y estimula al pueblo para aumentar la devoción a la Santa.
San Jerónimo le atribuye el epíteto “fortificada con torres”.
El 6 de marzo de 1058, el papa Etienne IX promulga una bula, donde afirma que el cuerpo de Santa María Magdalena, reposa en la abadía de Vézelay (Borgoña, Francia).
El santuario occidental más antiguo – de finales del siglo X- erigido en honor a la Santa, fue el de Halberstadt, en Alemania. En 1205 el obispo de ese lugar, Conrad de Krosik, regresó de la Cuarta cruzada y trajo consigo diferentes reliquias, entre ellas parte del cráneo de María Magdalena. La llegada de la reliquia se celebra el 17 de agosto.
Hacia 1155 la familia Baffo o Baffa decía poseer un dedo de la Santa y mandó construir en Canaregio, la primera iglesia veneciana, en su honor, para albergar la reliquia. La iglesia se llamaba “Santa María Maddalena Penitente”. Más tarde, en el siglo XVI, fue decorada con cuadros de Tintoretto. Según el historiador de la época, Francisco Sansovino, era la última iglesia que se visitaba durante las celebraciones del Viernes Santo.
A principios del siglo XII se le dedicó una iglesia en Jerusalén, situada en el barrio judío. Se menciona otra iglesia en su honor hacia el 1101-1102 en Ascalón. También existía en Jerusalén un convento dedicado a la Santa donde se alojaban peregrinas, hacia el siglo XII.
Bernardo de Claraval, (San Bernardo) define las reglas de la Orden de los templarios, en ellas encomienda obediencia a Betania, al castillo de Marta y María.
Tras el mandato de disolución de la Orden templaria, algunos de ellos se hallaban cautivos en el Rosellón. Fueron castigados el día 22 de julio de 1307, festividad de Santa María Magdalena.
San Bernardo llegó a escribir hasta noventa sermones acerca del Cantar de los Cantares, una de las lecturas litúrgicas de la festividad de Santa María Magdalena.
San Bernardo, el 31 de marzo de 1146, predicó la Segunda cruzada en la Magdalena de Vézelay, delante del rey Luis VII y su esposa Leonor de Aquitania, los condes de Dreux, de Flandes, de Toulouse y de Nevers. Años después, en 1190, Ricardo Corazón de León (hijo de Leonor de Aquitania y de Enrique II de Inglaterra) y Felipe Augusto se reunieron en el mismo lugar para disponer la Tercera cruzada.
En el año 1183 Felipe Augusto, expulsó a los judíos de París, y trasformó su sinagoga en una iglesia en honor La Magdalena. Estaba situada en la rue de Juiverie. Hoy no existe, en su lugar hay un hotel.
San Luis, rey de Francia, acude a la Sainte- Baume en 1254. En ella se cree que La Magdalena vivió durante diecisiete años. Antes de partir hacia Tierra Santa, en 1267, el rey acudió a Vézeley, para pedir protección a la Santa.
En Francia durante la Edad Media, se celebraba el traslado de sus reliquias desde la Provenza a Vézelay. Allí se festejaba, el 19 de marzo, y en la Provenza el 5 de mayo.
La iglesia de San Maximino de Provenza, guarda los cabellos de la Magdalena, en un relicario, dentro de un vaso de cristal. Esta reliquia atrae la devoción de los fieles. Su largura y su color- rubio tostado- inspiraron durante siglos su iconografía.
Leonor de Aquitania se retiró a la abadía de Fontevrault (Orleáns, Francia) fundada el 15 de abril de 1113, por Luis VI le Gros -cuya patrona era Santa María Magdalena. El 10 de abril de 1257, el papa Alejandro IV concede cuarenta horas de indulgencia, a las personas que visiten la iglesia y el hospicio de Fontevrault, el 22 de julio, festividad de Santa María Magdalena.
A partir del siglo XIII los reyes franceses fueron los patronos de la iglesia de San Maximino donde estaban las reliquias de la Santa. En ese mismo siglo fundaron el Convento Real bajo los cuidados de los dominicos. Ya en el siglo XIX el padre Lacordaire, reinstalo -tras años de ausencia- a los Hijos de Santo Domingo como la escolta de honor de la Magdalena.
Rodolfo de Worms fundó 1224 la Orden especial de penitentes de Santa María Magdalena. Aprobada por el papa Gregorio IX en 1227. Regla agustiniana; vestían hábito blanco. Se las denominaba Weissfrauen, Dames Blanches, o Damas Blancas. A partir de ahí nacieron más de cuarenta conventos en Alemania.
Durante el primer tercio del siglo XIII, el duque Adolfo de Slesvig-Holstein funda en Hamburgo, un convento dedicado a la Santa. Entrará en él como monje en 1239, y vivió allí hasta su muerte en 1261.
Hacia 1230-1306 el franciscano italiano, Jacopone da Todi, le compone un himno, donde María Magdalena se convierte en el consuelo de la Virgen.
Petrarca, entre 1330-1353, la describe como la Dulcis amica Dei (dulce amiga de Dios).
En 1328, Pierre Causit funda en Montpellier (Francia) un hospital cuya patrona es Santa María Magdalena.
Durante el siglo XIII la abadía de San Millán de la Cogolla (La Rioja), poseía varias reliquias de la Santa.
El libro de horas de Carlos VIII de Francia (1470-1498) contiene una miniatura que representa al Rey de rodillas, mientras La Magdalena le presenta ante Cristo.
A finales del siglo XIII, Charles de Salerne, graba su nombre en la chsse (relicario) que guarda las reliquias de la Santa, cincelado a mano y ornamentado en diamantes y zafiros.
La metáfora de Cristo como un jardinero que siembra la semilla en María Magdalena, la recoge el himno pascual de Felipe de Gréve, canciller de Paris en el siglo XIII.
En Inglaterra, a finales del siglo XIII, siete de los once santuarios dedicados a La Magdalena, son hospitales. A menudo se les conoce como “Lazare House” (la casa de Lázaro).
En el monasterio de Saint- Albans, en Herefordshire (Inglaterra) conservaba a finales del siglo XIV varias reliquias de Santa María Magdalena. Éstas se hallan inscritas en un manuscrito que se conserva en el British Museum. Dicho manuscrito fue publicado por Dugdale.
La importancia de Santa María Magdalena en Venecia lo demuestra su aparición en una bandera del siglo XV, junto a San Juan Bautista, San Juan Evangelista y San Jerónimo, todos ellos junto al león de San Marcos.
En Barcelona, a mediados del siglo XV, había una iglesia dedicada a La Magdalena. Donde el sacerdote Miguel Cuberta, ofició su primera misa.
Una bula del 22 de julio de 1435, concedida por el papa Eugéne IV, otorga indulgencia plenaria, en artículo mortis, a todos los habitantes de Arlés y Aix et Embrum (Francia), que ofrezcan sus bienes, para continuar la obra de la iglesia de Santa María Magdalena.
El rey René d´ Anjou, en marzo de 1438, peregrinó a la Sainte-Baume, (Aix- en- Provence, Francia) y fundó una misa, que debe ser cantada a perpetuidad en honor de Santa María Magdalena.
Existen históricas de la existencia de un cáliz, propiedad del rey René de Anjou con una curiosa inscripción: “El que beba a fondo verá a Dios; el que la apure de un solo trago, verá a Dios y a la Magdalena.”
El Magdalen College de la Universidad de Oxford (Inglaterra) fue fundado en 1448, por William de Waynflete, obispo de Winchester, con el permiso del rey Henry VI de Inglaterra. Tiene una impresionante capilla del siglo XV. En él han estudiado: Oscar Wilde, Virgina Wolf, C. S Lewis
En 1599 un trabajador de una fábrica de papel en Frabiano (Italia) sufrió un accidente y quedó aplastado entre las bobinas de papel, pero invocó a La Magdalena y resultó ileso. La iglesia- s XIII- de dicho pueblo, era una capilla de un hospital dedicado a la Santa. Tras el milagro, la fábrica la adoptó como patrona.
Dice la leyenda que Myriam de Magdala trajo consigo desde Palestina, un puñado de tierra, y unas piedrecillas negras, manchadas con la sangre derramada por Jesucristo en la Cruz. Se guardan en San Maximino (Aix-en Provence) dentro de un frasco de cristal. Cada, Viernes Santo, se vuelven rojas y se licua la sangre. Este prodigio atrae en el siglo XVII a más de cinco mil personas.
El Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York, guarda un relicario de finales del XV, procedente de Florencia (Italia) que contiene un diente de la Santa.
Zwingli, (reformador iconoclasta suizo) pidió abolir el culto a María Magdalena y destruir todas sus imágenes, pues era un ejemplo de lo artificioso de la intercesión de los santos.
El Concilio de Trento (1545-1563) destaca la importancia de Santa María Magdalena como símbolo de la iglesia triunfante y de la fe verdadera.
San Isidro labrador, antes de comenzar su faena en el campo, acudía a orar en una capilla dedicada a La Magdalena, situada en lo que es hoy Carabanchel (Madrid).
Santa Teresa de Ávila (1515- 1582) relata en su obra Vida su gran devoción a la gloriosa Magdalena. Pedía su intercesión ante Cristo, para perdonarle sus pecados.
San Francisco de Sales (1567-1622) resaltaba a la Magdalena como ejemplo de conversión y amor.
En 1597 Bellarmino, teólogo del papa Clemente VIII compuso un himno donde relata las tres fases de la conversión de la Magdalena, titulado: Pater superni luminis. Está integrado en el breviario romano como parte del oficio de su festividad.
César de Nostredame, en 1606, le dedica un poema titulado” Les Perles ou Larmes de la Saincte Magdelaine” (Las perlas o lágrimas de Santa Maria Magdalena). Compuesto por 752 endecasílabos.
El jesuita inglés Robert Southwell (siglo XVI) le escribió dos poemas líricos titulados: “Marie Magdalens blush” (El rubor de María Magdalena) y “Marie Magdalens complaint at Christ death” (La queja de Maria Magdalena por la muerte de Cristo). Considerado uno de los poemas de amor más importantes de su época.
Bernardino Ochino, capuchino italiano, tras visitar la Sainte-Baume, pronunció un sermón en Venecia en 1539, donde resalta el papel de La Magdalena, como el máximo ejemplo de la iglesia militante.
En 1622 Luis XIII de Francia derrotó a los calvinistas en Languedoc. Terminó la guerra en Montpellier. Desde allí fue a dar gracias a La Magdalena de San Maximino (Provenza). Cinco años después, un 22 de julio, les atestó el golpe definitivo, en la batalla de La Rochelle al derrotar al ejército inglés capitaneado por el duque de Buckingham, que apoyaba a los calvinistas franceses.
El cuadro “La conversión de María Magdalena” de Gentileschi (1640) fue un encargo del gran duque Cosimo de Toscana como regalo a su esposa la archiduquesa María Magdalena de Austria, gran duquesa de Toscana. Hoy podemos verlo en la Galleria Palatina, del palacio Pitti, en Florencia (Italia).
En Antequera (Málaga) existe un convento de las franciscanas descalzas del siglo XVIII, dedicado a La Magdalena.
En 1816, Luis XVIII de Francia le dedicó la espectacular Iglesia Real de La Madeleine de Paris, fundada en el siglo XVI por Carlos VIII. Totalmente reconstruida por Napoleón Bonaparte en 1807.
En 1822- y ante 40.000 personas- fue reestablecido el culto a la Santa en la Sainte- Baume, paralizado durante la Revolución francesa de 1789.
En Inglaterra durante el siglo XIX se produjo un reverdecimiento del culto a la Santa. Existen varias iglesias famosas como la magistral iglesia neogótica de María Magdalena, en Paddington (1868-1878); otras más antiguas como la iglesia de Norfolk del S XIV, restaurada en 1873, cuyas vidrieras narran su vida. Otra pequeña iglesia medieval en Madehurst, West Sussex.; la iglesia All Saints, Langton Green, Kent y muchas más.
El zar de todas las Rusias, Alejandro III, en 1886, mandó construir una iglesia en su honor, como recuerdo a su madre, gran devota de la Santa. Dicha iglesia fue proyectada por De Graham.
Aguste Rodin recibe hacia el 15 de Diciembre de 1905 el encargo de August Thyssen de realizar una escultura sobre Jesucristo, por la que pagó 20.000 francos. Así creó “Cristo y La Magdalena” una escultura de mármol, único testimonio de inspiración religiosa del autor, tras dejar el noviciado de los Padres del Santísimo Sacramento. Hoy puede admirase en el Museo Thyssen – Bornemisza de Madrid.
En la Biblioteca Imperial de San Petersburgo (Rusia), el abate Joseph Bonnet descubre en el manuscrito Q I, 14 un sermón anónimo francés atribuido al teólogo, del siglo XVII, Bousset. titulado: “L ´Amour de Madeleine” (El Amor de Magdalena).En 1911 Rainer María Rilke lo adquiere en un anticuario de Paris, de la rue du Bac. Fascinado por el escrito, al que califica de “extraordinario, luminoso y de verdadera actualidad espiritual”, lo traduce.
En 1978 fueron suprimidos de la sección del Breviario romano dedicado a Santa María Magdalena, los epítetos: “María poenitens” (María penitente) y “magna pecatrix” (gran pecadora). Para terminar con dos mil años de estigmatización sobre su persona. Ahora sólo queda que el colectivo popular borre de su memoria la falsedad que durante siglos se cernió sobre la Santa.
En la iglesia del Monasterio de Oía (Pontevedra) del s. XIII hay un retablo donde hallamos la representación de la bajada del Espíritu Santo sobre la Magdalena, que está rodeada por los apóstoles
La imagen central del retablo de la capilla dedicada a San Juan Evangelista, del Monasterio cisterciense de la Santa Cruz (Santes Creuses) de Aiguamúrcia (Tarragona), podemos ver un cuadro representando a la Magdalena, con una copa o cáliz en su mano izquierda. Este monasterio pertenecía al Císter, orden fundada por San Bernardo de Claraval, cuya influencia en la creación de la Orden de los Caballeros Templarios, es notable.
Para algunos el “juego de la Oca” es la representación del Camino de Santiago; en este juego la casilla 58 es la muerte, que significa resurrección y por tanto correspondería a la Magdalena al haber sido la primera en ver a Jesús resucitado.
Hacia el 466-511 el rey merovingio Clodoveo adopta como emblema de su dinastía a la flor de lis. Símbolo que aún hoy representa a la Corona francesa y adorna la urna de cristal que contiene las reliquias de la Magdalena en la abadía benedictina de Vézelay, en Francia.
En 1929 se descubre en Dura Europos (Siria) un fresco con una representación de las primeras pinturas cristianas. Donde encontramos a La Magdalena con una antorcha encendida en la mano. Hoy esta pintura puede verse en la Galería de Arte de la universidad de Yale, en EE.UU.
San Agustín se refiere a La Magdalena como el “testigo ocular” de la resurrección de Jesús.
El número 7 está asociado con la Magdalena, recordemos el pasaje del evangelio según san Lucas “y también algunas mujeres que habían sido curadas de malos espíritus y enfermedades: María, llamada Magdalena, de la que habían salido siete demonios” (Lc 8,2). El siete está relacionado con la perfección del tiempo. Significa “perfección”, “importancia” o “plenitud”. Es el número perfecto ya que Dios al crear el mundo descansó el séptimo día. También asociado con el Espíritu Santo (los 7 dones del espíritu); o con Ishtar (7 velos); o los 7 pecados capitales, e incluso para algunos guarda relación con la virginidad, ya que no genera ni es generado por ninguno de los otros números de la primera decena. Pero además una curiosidad ¿Se han fijado en una cosa? La Hoguera se celebra el 21 de julio ¿verdad? Hagan estas operaciones 21/3=7. Y Julio es el séptimo mes del año. ¿Casualidad, o causalidad?
Hacia 1888 Vincent Van Gogh llega al pequeño pueblo pesquero de Saintes-Maries-de-la Mer donde la tradición ubica que desembarcó la Magdalena. Durante esa época Van Gogh realiza gran parte de su obra.
1342: en Europa sucede la Inundación del Día de María Magdalena, la más grande registrada en ese continente (los niveles de agua superaron los de las inundaciones de 2002). Los ríos Rin, Mosela, Danubio, Elba y sus tributarios inundaron las ciudades de Colonia, Maguncia, Fráncfort del Meno, Wurzburgo, Ratisbona, Passau y Viena, que quedaron seriamente dañadas. También hubo muchos daños en la región de Carintia y el norte de Italia. Se desconoce el número de víctimas, pero solo en el área del río Danubio murieron 6000 personas. Los siguientes años habrá veranos fríos, que provocará la falta de alimentos en todo el continente. Seis años después se registrará la Peste negra, que matará a un tercio de la población de Europa.
In 1499 the Swiss gained independence from the Holy Roman Emperor and expanded their territory by invading nearby areas. Around this time, Swiss mercenaries were the most sought after and feared troops in Europe. But in 1515 they were defeated by combined French and Venetian forces at the battle of Marignano. Realising that they could not compete against larger states, the Swiss stopped trying to expand and declared neutrality. Later that century, the Reformation led to religious divides within the country, but the Swiss remained neutral during the resulting religious warfare in Europe. The French invaded Switzerland in 1798 and created a puppet state. After the defeat of Napoleon, however, Switzerland’s “perpetual neutrality” was guaranteed by international treaty.
Above: A Swiss postcard from the First World War period. It associates the soldiers of the day (right) with citizens of 1291 who created the Swiss federal charter of that year, which formed the origins of modern-day Switzerland. Other patriotic postcards from the time referred to the Swiss folk hero William Tell.
Before considering the First World War period, it is worth quickly summarising earlier Swiss history. The area that is now Switzerland came under Roman rule, and then that of the Holy Roman Empire (which also covered much of the rest of central Europe, from modern Germany down to northern Italy). In 1291, some Swiss regions united against the Holy Roman Empire, forming a defence league. Other cities and districts gradually joined the league, and this was the origin of the system of cantons: a loose confederation of administrative districts, comparable in some ways to US states, with no strong central government.
In 1848, a new federal constitution was drawn up, which formed the basis for modern Switzerland, recognising 22 (later 23) cantons and establishing the capital at Berne. During the second half of that century, Switzerland tried (not always successfully) to keep out of international politics as much as possible.
Above: A 1914 postcard marking the moment only 100 years before when Geneva had joined the rest of the Swiss confederation.
The country was actually relatively young in 1914. The traditional date for the founding of the Swiss state is 1291, but it has been argued that the state was really founded during and immediately after the Napoleonic Wars. That was when Switzerland became a republic, rather than a loose union of cantons, and gained the first significant numbers of French- and Italian-speaking inhabitants.
The only fresco in a Parisian church in which the figure of Napoleon appears is the one that adorns the half-dome of the Church of the Madeleine. Painted by Ziegler, it gathers around Christ, Mary Magdalene and the apostles the great people who have shaped Christianity: Constantine, Clovis, Godfrey of Bouillon, Frederick Barbarossa, Joan of Arc, Dante, Raphael, Pius VII and the Emperor in his coronation robes.
Para ser una iglesia, la Madeleine tiene sin duda una forma extraña, pues parece más bien un templo de la antigua Roma. La explicación hay que buscarla en la turbulenta historia de París en los años que rodean a la Revolución Francesa.
Historia del monumento
La antigua Madeleine
Antes de que esta zona de la ciudad quedara completamente alterada con la construcción de la enorme Plaza de la Concordia, existía en este lugar una pequeña iglesia de la Madeleine. Pero el diseño de la nueva plaza exigía una iglesia más grande, cerrando la perspectiva de la "Calle Real", que conducía hasta ella.
Cuando estalló la Revolución Francesa, la iglesia se encontraba todavía a medio construir, e inmediatamente se detuvieron las obras.
Pasado el periodo revolucionario, Napoleón quiso convertir la iglesia inacabada en un templo pagano, dedicado a la gloria del Gran Ejército, la Grande Armée. Para ello, derribó todo lo construido hasta entonces, y comenzó a levantarse el edificio que hoy contemplamos.
Pero finalmente, viendo que su efímero Imperio se derrumbaba, decidió que el edificio, ya muy avanzado, volviera a su uso original como iglesia.
Exterior del monumento
La Madeleine tiene la forma de un templo "periptero", es decir, rodeado de columnas por sus cuatro costados, como los templos griegos. Y posee las mismas dimensiones que el mayor templo de la antigua Grecia: el de Zeus Olímpico de Atenas.
Los elementos más destacados en el exterior de La Madeleine son:
1. El frontón
Fue construido después de la Restauración borbónica, en tiempos de Luis Felipe de Orleans, el "rey ciudadano". Aunque Luis Felipe había sido partidario de la Revolución, quiso que la imagen de este gran frontón tuviera un espíritu de conciliación. Por eso permitió que apareciera en él María Magdalena arrodillada ante Jesucristo Juez, como una alegoría de la Francia arrepentida, que suplica perdón por la ejecución de Luis XVI.
En efecto, a pocos pasos de esta iglesia, en la Plaza de la Concordia, había tenido lugar, el 21 de enero de 1792, la muerte del rey en la guillotina.
2. Puertas de bronce
Las puertas de entrada al templo son uno de los elementos más impresionantes de esta iglesia, por sus colosales dimensiones y por la fuerza de sus relieves.
Fueron realizadas por el barón Henri de Triqueti y representan "Los diez mandamientos". Los dos primeros se encuentran en el panel horizontal de la parte superior, y los otros 8 en las hojas de las puertas.
Estos son los mandamientos, y las escenas que los representan. Todas ellas están tomadas del Antiguo Testamento y tienen gran fuerza expresiva.
"No tendrás otros dioses fuera de mí". Escena que lo ilustra: el pueblo judío recibe las tablas de la Ley.
"No invocarás en vano el nombre de Dios". El pueblo judío ante Moisés.
"Santificarás las fiestas". Dios descansa el séptimo día.
"Honra a tu padre y a tu madre". Noé maldice al hizo que se burló de él.
"No matarás". Caín es castigado por la muerte de su hermano.
"No cometerás adulterio". El profeta Natán recrimina al rey David.
"No robarás". Josué dictando sentencia por un robo.
"No levantarás falso testimonio". Daniel defiende a la casta Susana ante la acusación injusta.
"No codiciarás la mujer de tu prójimo". Dios rescata a Sara, la mujer de Abraham.
"No codiciarás la casa de tu prójimo". Elías recrimina al rey Acab por codiciar la viña de Nabot, y darle muerte.
Detalle del 5º mandamiento. Abel yace en tierra tras ser asesinado por Caín. Foto: joz
Visita al interior
Si el exterior de La Madeleine parece un templo pagano de la Antigüedad, el interior se organiza como unas termas, con gran profusión de mármoles de colores.
Su mayor defecto es la escasa luz natural, que deja a la iglesia habitualmente en semipenumbra.
El techo se cierra mediante bóvedas rebajadas, adornadas con casetones y con un gran óculo en el centro, inspiradas en el Panteón de Roma.
Foto: Guilhem Vellut (recorte)
La iglesia está llena de esculturas realizadas por artistas que fueron los mejores en su momento. El gobierno de Luis Felipe de Orleans puso gran cuidado la decoración de esta iglesia, que debía ser "El Remplo de la Reconciliación nacional", tras las convulsiones de la Revolución Francesa y del Imperio. Por eso destinó a La Madeleine grandes cantidades de recursos.
Las piezas más vistosas son:
El gran grupo escultórico sobre el altar principal, obra de Charles Marochetti. Se llama "El arrebato de María Magdalena", a la que muestra en éxtasis, en el momento de ser arrebatada al cielo, transportada en una canastilla por ángeles de enormes alas.
El enorme fresco de Jules-Claude Ziegler, en el casquete del ábside. En él aparecen representados personajes de la Iglesia, de todas las épocas y culturas. La escena central representa a Cristo, que acoge y perdona a María Magdalena (alegoría de Francia arrepentida, como en el relieve del frontón).
Una banda a los pies de la santa explica el motivo: dilexit multum, amó mucho.
En el fresco aparece también la figura de Napoleón Bonaparte, que en ese momento acababa de fallecer y era extraordinariamente popular en Francia. Clica en la imagen para verlo.
There has been a church in this area since the 13th century when the neighbourhood was known as Ville l'Evêque and its church was Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, situated at the end of the present-day boulevard Malesherbes. In the 18th century a new building was deemed necessary in view of the recent growth in the population of the area. Pierre Constant d'Ivry drew up the plans for the structure. The aim was to produce a church worthy of its site on the monumental perspective of rue Royale and place Louis XV. On Constant's death in 1777 the plans were modified by Guillaume Couture but the Revolution stopped construction work in 1791.
In 1802 the signing of the Concordat restored Catholicism to France, however the newly created parish of the Madeleine was centred not on the unfinished building but on the Church of the Assumption in rue Saint-Honoré. Furthermore, the purpose for the site begun by Couture was no longer clearly understood. Consequently, many alternative schemes were put forward, the one accepted being that by Pierre Vignon. In accordance with an imperial decree of February 1806 Vignon's project was to develop the half-built structure into a Stock Exchange, a commercial tribunal as well as the Bank of France.
However, another imperial decree signed by Napoleon at the Posen Camp on the symbolic date of 2nd December, 1806 cancelled the previous decree and advertised a competition for “the building of a temple to the glory of the French army on the site of the Madeleine”. The building programme included the addition of an inscription in the pediment which read “L'Empereur Napoléon aux soldats de la Grande Armée”, as well as on the inside the addition of marble tablets on which were inscribed the names of all the men (arranged in order of army corps and regiment) who had fought at the battles of Ulm, Austerlitz and Iéna. Those who had died on these battlefields were to have their names inscribed in solid gold tablets – there was also to be another list of all the soldiers, this time listed according to their different home departments, these on tablets of silver. To complete this memorial there were to have been bas-reliefs showing the regiments of the Grand Army, statues of the Maréchals and all their trophies, and the “flags, standards and drums” taken from the enemy.
Eighty artists entered the competition which was won by Etienne de Beaumont. But the Emperor nevertheless decided to award the project to Vignon: “I wanted a temple not a church” was his furious comment on Beaumont's design. Vignon then set about demolishing what had been built by Couture – this took until 1811. When the major work finally started it progressed only very slowly owing to shortage of funds. After the Russian Campaign, Napoleon abandoned completely the idea of a Temple of Glory and began to reconsider the idea for a church. With the fall of the Empire work stopped once again.
It was the Restoration which re-launched the project, giving the construction back to the Catholic church and consecrating it to the memory of the Royal family who climbed the scaffold to their deaths close to that spot during the Revolution. Vignon once again directed the work beginning in 1816, but on his death in 1828 this was taken over by Huvée. In 1842 the church was made once again the principal parish of the 1st arrondissement, and it was consecrated by the Archbishop of Paris in 1845.
A peripteral temple with Corinthian columns, the Madeleine is one of the best examples of Neo-classical architecture in Paris. It marks Napoleon's express wish to bring back the grandeur of antiquity in celebration “of the memory of the immortal glory of the Emperor…and that of his companions in arms”. Although nothing of the original Napoleonic programme for the sculptural decoration of the church remains, nevertheless there are many exceptional works within the church, notably the monumental bronze doors by Triqueti and the “Baptism of Christ” by Rude. Of particular interest is the fresco in the semi-cupola of the apse produced by Ziegler representing the glorious history of Christianity (1835-1837). This work, the only fresco in a Parisian church to include a figure of Napoleon, shows Christ surrounded by Mary Magdelene, the Apostles and the great figures of Christianity, namely Constantine, Clovis, Godefroy de Bouillon, Frederick Barbarossa, Joan of Arc, Dante, Raphael, Pius VII and the Emperor in his coronation robes.
Church of the Madeleine
Category:
Monuments, Parks and Gardens
Region:
Paris and Ile de France
Address:
Place de la Madeleine 14, rue de Surène 75008 Paris, France
Napoléon Bonaparte is never far from the cultural imagination; he is arguably the most famous French person of all time.
Ph: Manjik/Dreamstime
But the one-time Emperor of France is back in the news in a big way, thanks to the release of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.
Joaquin Phoenix as Emperor Napoléon crowning Vanessa Kirby’s Joséphine, with Lincoln Cathedral, England, playing the part of Notre-Dame.
While the movie was mostly filmed in England, Malta, and Morocco, you can relive Napoléon’s Parisian days the next time you’re in the City of Light by visiting the monuments he built, and other sites of Napoleonic significance …
Where Napoléon Stayed & Played
Born in Corsica, Napoléon was sent to military school in Champagne at the age of eight. Seven years later, in 1784, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious École Militaire in Paris (below). The academy, which still operates today, is located at the southern end of the Champ de Mars (the field where young cadets once drilled), behind the Eiffel Tower.
The École Militaire, as seen from the Eiffel Tower.
Napoléon’s transfer to Paris involved a two-day journey by boat. He disembarked the Seine at a wharf in the Marais and, as he made his way eastwards to his new school, bought a copy of the novel Gil Blas from a quayside bookseller.
In 1787, after having graduated, a young lieutenant Napoléon found himself back in Paris on leave, and gravitated to the gardens of the Palais-Royal, a notorious party central at the time (above). A cash-strapped Duc d’Orléans Louis-Philippe II had redeveloped his palatial backyard into a pleasure ground in 1784. He had the three wings that frame the northern end of the estate built, renting out the ground spaces as shops and restaurants, while filling the upper floors with dance rooms, gaming dens, billiard halls and brothels. In the middle of the garden enclave there was a circus where acrobatic riders thrilled the crowds, and all sorts of puppet shows and dance performances entertained in the groves of fancifully cut trees. Thousands of Parisians strolled, drank, conversed and flirted in these botanical arcades. The Palais-Royal was a fairground, bazaar and dance party, all in one. It was open day and night, and open to all Parisians — except for police. So you can imagine the air of abandon. Much was lost here. Money — although you could always see the various mortgage agents that had set up shop, or pawnbrokers, to sell your precious gold watch if need be. Virginity, too — a future Emperor Napoléon picked up his first female conquest in this very garden. And lives — Louis Philippe II’s heady vision, inaugurated in 1784, struck him gold, but also eventually cost the duke his head, as he had unwittingly laid the fertile ground for the French Revolution. It was here where courtesans passed as countesses, a precursor of a democratic future France; and where, far from the watchful eyes of the authorities, political discussions could gather momentum, morphing into full-blown movements. The sans-culotte Camille Desmoulins gave a particularly impassioned anti-Royalty speech from atop a table of a café terrace; two days later the Bastille was stormed, and the rest is l’histoire …
Napoléon was often in Paris during the revolutionary years, where the now-Republican networked, wheeled-and-dealed, and generally tried not to lose his head. He was by the old Palais des Tuileries on the day it was stormed by a mob that slaughtered the King’s Swiss guard. Napoléon was savvy in both his political and survival instincts, and ambitious to boot, but surely he can’t have had an inkling that day that this palace (which would be later destroyed by the Paris Commune of 1871) would one day be his imperial home. He did aspire extremely high, however, moving in all the right circles, including A-list parties and salons, where he soon met his fate, in the seductive form of the future Empress Joséphine.
Napoléon’s professional fate was secured on 5th October 1795, when he was asked to deal with thousands of Royalist soldiers who were making their way down Rue Saint-Honoré, en route to the National Convention, where they hoped to retake power. In front of the Saint-Roch Church (above), Napoléon commanded, inspired, and led his troops so successfully (the cannon-ball damage bears witness to this day) that the young Corsican became an overnight hero. He received an instant promotion and a plush new office on Place Vendôme for his efforts.
In March 1796, after Joséphine finally agreed to a lovesick Napoléon’s marriage proposal, the couple wed in a civil ceremony at 3 Rue d’Antin. (The building is no longer occupied by the 2nd arrondissement mairie but a plaque marks the momentous event). When not away on duty, Napoléon lived with Joséphine on Rue Chantereine (which was soon renamed Rue de la Victoire).
Ph: Courtesy of Chteau de Malmaison.
Sadly, her elegant manor house no longer exists, but the lovely country estate just west of Paris that she bought for herself while Napoléon was in Egypt — Chteau de Malmaison — remains in all its neo-Classical glory and is a must-visit for lovers of history, gardens, and architecture.
Napoléon’s Architectural Legacy
A coup d’état of late 1799 — generally considered to mark the end of the French Revolution — saw the overthrow of the Directory leadership of France, and the elevation of Napoléon to the autocratic position of First Consul. The future Emperor (he would crown himself in 1804, in Notre-Dame Cathedral) was now in a position to make his physical mark on his capital.
The neo-Classical trend in architecture had been in favour for a while, but Napoléon, with his passion for arches, columns, and temples, took it to whole new heights, for it represented the fabled grandeur he yearned to project. He wanted Paris to be the new Rome, as befitting a leader who saw himself as a future legend of history. But the aesthetically driven ruler was also engineering-minded, and as such he wanted his city to be cleaner, safer, and more practical. To admire the various changes Napoléon made to Paris, visit the following …
Waterways & Bridges
Napoléon’s utilitarian plan included the construction of new bridges. First up was the Pont des Arts (above), built between 1801 and 1804. The visionary leader demanded it be constructed mostly in iron, which was scarce and expensive at the time, and not considered as chic as limestone, Paris’s classic building block. His vision was perfect; the result was a bridge both modern and elegant, one that has stood the aesthetic test of time. The Pont d’Austerlitz and Pont d’Iéna bridges followed.
Ph: Janis Smits/Dreamstime
As First Consul, Napoléon also ordered the construction of the Canal Saint-Martin (above), Bassin de la Villette (Paris’s largest artificial lake), and Canal de l’Ourcq. Intended to boost the city’s supply of drinking water, this was funded, appropriately enough, by a new tax on wine.
He also cleaned up the banks of the Seine, which were more like strips of beach than true working quays required for the trading needs of a major river city. Up on street level, Napoléon had all roads renumbered, starting from the Seine, with even numbers on the right, odd on the left.
And, to bring drinking water to more Parisians, he decorated those streets with various (often grandiose) fountains, including the Fontaine de la Victoire on Place du Chtelet and the Fontaine du Mars, situated by the now-iconic restaurant of the same name (above).
Rue de Rivoli
As the above examples show, Napoléon’s utilitarian plan could overlap into his ornamental plan for the city. This was also the case with his vision for Rue de Rivoli, for which he turned to his favourite architects, Charles Percier and Pierre-François Fontaine (who had so stunningly redecorated Malmaison in the antique style).
Rue de Rivoli was, originally, a project born of necessity. For one, Napoléon wanted to ease the congested traffic on the nearby Rue Saint-Honoré. But an assassination attempt on him in Rue Saint-Niçaise — one of the narrow medieval streets that once criss-crossed this area, cluttering the approach to the Louvre — also gave Napoléon the impetus for change.
Rue Saint-Niçaise, as seen on the 1730s Turgot Map of Paris.
For a little more back-story … on 24th December 1800, Napoléon was in the Palais des Tuileries, waiting for Joséphine and her daughter Hortense who were primping in preparation for a night out at the opera. Napoléon finally gave in to the whims of feminine grooming, and headed out in the first carriage, leaving Joséphine to continue fussing about the best way to wrap on her cashmere shawl. The sartorial delay most likely saved her and Hortense’s lives, for a Royalist-planted gunpowder-filled wagon exploded on Rue Saint-Niçaise just before the second carriage reached its vicinity. Twenty Parisians died in the attack, which also caused major structural damage of nearby buildings. This gave Napoléon both the motivation and excuse for a rebuild; he wanted to clean up the city’s streets, making them safer, wider, and more modern.
While Napoléon’s nephew Emperor Napoléon III, would end up seeing out this city-wide vision (when he hired Baron Haussmann to make over Paris in the mid-century), Napoléon made a great start with Rue de Rivoli (named for one of his Italian victories), which originally stretched from Place de la Concorde to the Place du Palais-Royal. The extensive scope gave Percier and Fontaine a large canvas on which to apply Classical design principles.
Ph: Engin Korkmaz/Dreamstime.
They placed three levels above an arcaded ground floor (the arcades perhaps being inspired by Bologna, which Napoléon had visited in 1796), and minimal decoration beyond shutters and two lines of balconies. (Percier and Fontaine also placed gates opposite the first section of Rue de Rivoli, to line the northern border of the Jardin des Tuileries; they’re still there today.) The seemingly endless perspective projected that Napoléon-adored grandeur, but at the same time, with the continuous arches and curved attic roof (which was added later), the overall effect is charming rather than severe. Rue de Castiglione and Place des Pyramides were also part of the redevelopment, which would go on to influence Haussmann years later.
Colonne Vendôme
Turn from Rue Rivoli into the aforementioned Rue de Castiglione, and you can’t miss the towering verdigris Colonne Vendôme up ahead. The Trajan’s Column-inspired monument was erected in 1806, to replace Place Vendôme’s equestrian statue of Louis XIV, which had been destroyed during the Revolution, and to commemorate the Battle of Austerlitz. Surmounted by a statue of the Emperor, its spiraling bas-relief plates — melted down from 1200 bronze cannons taken from the Russian and Austrian armies — depict Napoléon’s military campaigns.
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
The year 1806 — after France’s success at Austerliz — saw Napoléon at the height of his power. He also commissioned this triumphal arch, originally intended as a gate of honour to the Tuileries Palace, as well as a commemoration of his Grande Armée. Fontaine and Percier took inspiration once more from Rome, specifically from the Arch of Constantine. Atop the lovely arch, with its pink-marble Corinthian columns, they placed the horses of St Mark’s in Venice, which Napoléon had taken as a souvenir of his conquest of that city. The current horses are replicas, after the originals were returned in 1815 (along with much other stolen artwork).
Arc de Triomphe
In the same year, Napoléon commissioned this much larger arch, also in commemoration of his army, on the site of the old city gates. At the time, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées was little more than a country road on the outskirts of Paris. Since the destruction of the Palais des Tuileries, the Arc de Triomphe can be viewed from its little sister arch — they’re two bookends of a world-famous vista. The larger arch’s distance from the palace dictated its majestic size, for it needed to be admired from afar. Sadly, Napoléon didn’t get to see this particular dream materialise; the monument required several decades to reach completion. His ghost, however, would surely be happy that it is now a symbol of French pride and a focus of many civic celebrations, with the Flame of Remembrance burning brightly by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Église de la Madeleine
Napoléon, in 1806, also announced that the part-built church on this site would be redesigned and repurposed as a temple to the glory of the French army. Cue a rectangular Greco-Roman-style temple with a peristyle of Corinthian columns, styled à la Rome’s Pantheon. View it from the start of Rue Royale, then turn around to locate its twin monument on the other side of the river from Place de la Concorde; Napoléon had this Roman portico façade added to an old palace, Palais Bourbon, to reflect and amplify the overall effect of Classical grandeur on Place de la Concorde. That latter building is now the National Assembly, while the Madeleine has been a church since it was, finally, completed in 1842.
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre — the royal court until Louis XIV moved out to Versailles — found new life as a museum in 1793, which is rather astonishing because this was during some of most the tumultuous days of the Revolution. But it makes sense in the context of liberté and égalité, for it was, among other things, a way to share with everyday French citizens something that had, until now, been exclusive to high society.
Napoléon inspecting the works of Percier and Fontaine, painted by Auguste Couder.
Napoléon continued this mission of the Louvre as a place of art and beauty for all — also, he needed somewhere to store all of the art he had stolen on his various campaigns! (Like the horses atop the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, most would eventually be returned to rightful owners; Veronese’s glorious Wedding Feast at Cana is one that remained at the Louvre.) Napoléon also decreed that it was high time to restore a neglected Louvre, and complete it with a northern wing — which was now an easier job, thanks to the various demolitions that followed the Rue Saint-Niçaise bombing attempt.
Ph: Konstik/Dreamstime
So Percier and Fontaine got to work on beautifying the Louvre in numerous ways, including completing the lovely Cour Carrée. (Much of their interior design no longer exists, but walk through the Salles Percier and Fontaine to admire their gorgeous Empire style.) They were in the midst of constructing the Louvre’s northern wing, which now houses the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (above), when Napoléon was defeated at Waterloo, necessitating a putting-down of tools. The Louvre would finally be completed during the reign of Napoléon’s nephew … although poignantly, the Tuileries Palace, which by now served as the western wing of the complex, burnt down the year after Napoléon III’s abdication.
Also Not-to-Miss for Napoléon Fans …
Debauve & Gallais (30 Rue des Saints-Pères, 75007) is the most historically significant chocolaterie in town, with a classified interior that dates back to its 1817 opening and was designed, no less, by Napoléon’s beloved Percier and Fontaine.
Le Procope (13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, 75006), now a restaurant that serves classic Gallic fare in a glittering olde-worlde setting, was originally — from 1686 — one of Paris’s first cafés, and served coffee along with an inspiring ambience to its philosophically-minded clientele. As the Revolution brewed, the crowds became more politically activist; the now-national motto ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité,’ is said to have been coined here. Napoléon, as an up-and-coming mover and shaker, was by this time a customer, albeit a poor one … One of his famous bicorne hats is on display in a glass cabinet (above), said to have been left here one day by the man himself, in lieu of paying his bill with money.
Le Grand Véfour (17 Rue de Beaujolais, 75001). When Napoléon finally did have money, this jewel box of a restaurant was a favoured dining spot of the imperial couple.
Ph: Mkojot/Dreamstime
While Napoléon’s downfall was brutal, his exile punishing, and his death lonely, his remains made a triumphant return to Paris in 1840. Watched by thousands of Parisians (who had fallen back in love with their former Emperor once more), the horse-drawn hearse made its way from the Arc de Triomphe (which had finally been completed in 1836) down to Place de la Concorde, and then over to Les Invalides, where his tomb still rests under the gilded dome; to visit, buy a ticket to the Musée de l’Armée.
Saint-Mark Golden Basilica Sanctuary, Domes and Horses, in Venice Italy
St. Mark: A Low-rise Basilica
Saint-Mark TreasureCompared to its European contemporaries, the height of St. Mark's Basilica is remarkably modest.
At the same time, we saw that the construction of this third basilica responded more to political than religious considerations and that it had to be a grandiose building capable of impressing the world.
So why did they make it so modest in terms of its height?
There are several reasons for this.
The first is in Venice itself; it should not be forgotten that everything is built on water and that weight is an element that should be taken into account for any construction on stilts, be it a basilica or any Venetian palace.
Indeed, many bell towers in Venice are close to 90 metres in height, but, as is known, many of them have collapsed, starting with that of Saint Mark, whose collapse of 1902 was not the first.
Saint-Mark Apse's MosaicsThe second reason is that at that time, the current Piazza, between the Doge's Palace and the Marciana Library, did not exist.
It was still a dock that gave directly into the lagoon and stopped on the southern side of St. Mark's Basilica.
In front of the basilica, the dock ended into a canal that met the Rio di Palazzo.
All this meant that the southern part and south-eastern part of the basilica were fully reflected in the water, which “grew” the perspective.
Later, during the 12th century, the dock and canal were filled, questioning the basilica's “visual” appearance by changing its primitive spatial relationship.
The Domes of St. Mark's Basilica
Until the beginning of the 13th century, the basilica was significantly lower, outwardly speaking, than today.
Timber Structures of the cupolasThis interior-outer distinction is essential in the sense that if the domes of St. Mark's Basilica have actually been raised, only the outer "visible" part of it is heightened, without modifying the arches of the internal cupolas.
It simply means that the outer cupolas, made of a wooden frame and lead plates to cover it, just contain emptiness and are standing well above the inner cupolas of the basilica.
By this visual artifice, they were able to fill the lack of “visual” height, born after the disappearance of the canal and the dock and this by artificially heightening the cupolas of the basilica of Saint Mark.
It is true that when you are on St. Mark's Square, at the other end of it, the basilica of St. Mark seems very small in proportion to the square.
Saint-Mark Apse's MosaicsThe church is, in fact, on the outside, significantly wider than tall, which amplifies this visual effect of small size.
And this is perhaps one of the most beautiful surprises St. Mark's Basilica can offer to its visitors.
Crossing its threshold, you expect to enter a “small” church and barely have you entered that you are genuinely grasped by the imposing height of its domes.
Indeed, once inside St. Mark's Basilica, it is suddenly you who feel small.
Since then, it seems no longer so small, and, like many things in Venice, we have to know how to approach them without a priori to be able to see them better and appreciate them.
So let's forget about the lengths, widths and angles! Beauty is not to be measured!
The Horses of St. Mark Basilica: The Quadriga
Saint-Mark Basilica's HorsesThe horses of St. Mark appeared long after the third construction of St. Mark's Basilica.
They were a war trophy stolen in 1204 by the Venetians in Constantinople.
The Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them to Venice at the time of the fourth crusade, which had seen the Crusaders' capture of Constantinople, thanks to the help of the Venetians.
These horses belonged to an imperial quadriga coming from the island of Chios.
Saint-Mark's HorsesThey were then sent to Constantinople, where they were positioned on the high towers of the hippodrome.
On their origin, opinions diverge; some historians consider the Corinthian source, from the 4th or 3rd century BC.
Others say that they were made by Lysippos of Sicyon, a Greek sculptor and bronzer, for Alexander the Great, and that Tiridates I, king of Armenia, owned them and then offered them to Nero, in exchange for the crown he received from his hands.
After this gift, they would have been placed at the four corners of the colossal statue of Nero in Rome.
They were then transported by Emperor Constantine to Byzantium.
When they arrived in Venice, they were first stored at the Arsenal before being installed at the top of the basilica to reinforce its symbolic power.
“Before St. Mark still glow his steeds of brass, Their gilded collars glittering in the sun; But is not Doria's menace come to pass? Are they not bridled !” Lord Byron - Childe Harold Canto IV-XIII
To understand this allusion to Doria, it is worth knowing that the horses of St. Mark had become one of the symbols of Venetian power.
Pietro Doria, the Genoese admiral, promised in 1378 to the Venetians, during the war between Genoa and Venice, that after the Genoese capture of the island close to Chioggia, he would bridle the horses of Venice. What he did not succeed in doing!
Byron's poem was written after the fall of Venice and its occupation by Austrian troops.
“I was looking closely at the four bronze horses placed above the arcades of St. Mark's Church.
What a beautiful hitch!
I would have liked to hear him judge by a real horse connoisseur.
Seen on the terrace that supports these horses, they seem very heavy, but when you look at them from below, that is, from St. Mark's Square, they look light as deer.“ Goethe Memoirs - October 8 1786
These horses are indeed made to be watched from St. Mark's Square, and it is no wonder that Schopenhauer did not appreciate them at their fair value when he had the opportunity to see them in Paris, out of their context, and at a wrong level:
“It is in Paris, in the Tuileries Garden that in front of the castle, there are the famous four horses that Bonaparte brought back from Venice and which have always accompanied the conquerors.
But I don't find them as extraordinary as I imagined.“ Schopenhauer
They had indeed been stolen by Napoleon Bonaparte in Venice on December 7, 1797 and were not returned until 1815, where they return to their place on the Basilica Terrace.
They left their place twice again, but this time to protect them, during the first and last world war.
Finally, the horses you see today on the basilica are copies; the real horses, even more beautiful, are inside the church, in the museum of St. Mark's Basilica, sheltered from the bad weather.
Mosaics of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice
One of the most beautiful things that St. Mark's Basilica can offer to its visitors is undoubtedly its mosaics, both outside and inside it.
Saint-Mark Apse's MosaicsThey were initially highly Byzantine-inspired, and it is even believed that some Byzantine artists would have come to Venice especially to make them.
However, we do not have proof of this, especially since most of the original mosaics of the basilica have been replaced.
Their maintenance was indeed delicate, and most of the original mosaics deteriorated quickly, resulting in near-constant restorations.
Thus, rather than restoring existing mosaics, the Venetians, as they went on, simply replaced them with new mosaics, representing scenes that often correspond more to the moment's artistic tastes and religious themes.
The only original mosaic on St. Mark's facade represents the translation of the remains of Saint Mark on a background that represents the basilica around 1250.
Tema anterior
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Según “La Leyenda dorada”, escrita en 1276, por el dominico italiano, Jacques de la Vorágine, María Magdalena era hija de Siro y Eucaria, una familia que descendía de reyes.
Ph: Manjik/Dreamstime
Joaquin Phoenix as Emperor Napoléon crowning Vanessa Kirby’s Joséphine, with Lincoln Cathedral, England, playing the part of Notre-Dame.
The École Militaire, as seen from the Eiffel Tower.
Ph: Courtesy of Chteau de Malmaison.
Ph: Janis Smits/Dreamstime
Rue Saint-Niçaise, as seen on the 1730s Turgot Map of Paris.
Ph: Engin Korkmaz/Dreamstime.
Napoléon inspecting the works of Percier and Fontaine, painted by Auguste Couder.
Ph: Konstik/Dreamstime
Ph: Mkojot/Dreamstime
