The Louvre
- 1. The Louvre
- 2. The Middle Ages During the forty-three-year reign of Philippe Auguste (1180–1223), the power and influence of the French monarchy grew considerably, both inside and outside the kingdom. In 1190, a rampart was built around Paris, which was Europe’s biggest city at the time. To protect the capital from the Anglo-Norman threat, the king decided to reinforce its defenses with a fortress, which came to be known as the Louvre. It was built to the west of the city, on the banks of the Seine In 1364, Raymond du Temple, architect to Charles V, began transforming the old fortress into a splendid royal residence. Contemporary miniatures and paintings contain marvelous images of ornately decorated rooftops. Apartments around the central court featured large, elaborately-carved windows. A majestic spiral staircase, the “grande vis,” served the upper floors of the new buildings, and a pleasure garden was created at the north end. The sumptuous interiors were decorated with sculptures, tapestries, and paneling. After the death of Charles VI, the Louvre slumbered for a century until 1527, when François I decided to take up residence in Paris. The Grosse Tour (the medieval keep) was demolished, affording still more light and space. The medieval Louvre gave way to a Renaissance palace.
- 3. From the Louvre to the Tuileries The demolition of the Grosse Tour marked the beginning of a new phase of building work that would continue through to the reign of Louis XIV. The transformation of François I’s château continued under Henri II and his sons. However, the construction of the Tuileries palace some 500 meters to the west led to a rethinking of the site. Ambitious royal plans to link the two buildings culminated in the creation of the Grande Galerie. In the second half of the 16th century, the Louvre was an astonishing mixture of new buildings, work in progress, and half-ruined structures over 200 years old. Dissatisfied with its lack of comfort, and with the noise and smell of the city, Henri II's widow Catherine de Médicis ordered the building of a new residence a short distance to the west. Plans for the Tuileries palace were drawn up by Philibert Delorme in 1564, but work was discontinued a few years later. Henri IV built the Galerie du Bord de l’Eau (Waterside Gallery) between 1595 and 1610. Also known as the Grande Galerie, the long passage provided a direct link from the royal apartments in the Louvre to the Tuileries palace, ending with the Pavillon de Flore. To avoid excessive monotony along its 450-meter façade, two architects were hired: Louis Métezeau for the east end and Jacques II Androuet du Cerceau for the west. During the same period, the Galerie des Rois (Kings' Gallery) was built on top of the Petite Galerie.
- 4. The Classical Period In 1625, after over ten years of inactivity, Louis XIII decided to resume construction work and carry out the so-called Grand Dessein (Grand Design) envisaged by Henri IV. Louis XIII ordered the demolition of part of the north wing of the medieval Louvre and its replacement by a continuation of the Lescot wing, with identical decoration and detail Between 1655 and 1658, Anne of Austria, the queen mother and regent during Louis XIV's childhood, created a suite of private apartments on the ground floor of the Petite Galerie. The six interconnecting rooms (a common arrangement at the time) comprised a large salon, anteroom, and vestibule, a grand cabinet (study or private sitting room), a bedchamber, and a petit cabinet overlooking the Seine. The decoration was carried out by the Italian Romanelli (frescoes and ceilings) and Anguier (stucco). In 1665, Louis XIV invited the Italian sculptor and architect Bernini to work on the eastern wing of the Cour Carrée, the planned site of a grandiose new entrance to the royal residence. Bernini submitted two projects, but Louis called a halt to construction work, and neither was completed
- 5. From Palace to Museum Through the treaties of Tolentino and Campo Formio, France acquired numerous paintings and antiquities from the Vatican and the Venetian republic. These were enriched by spoils from Napoleon I's conquests. The museum, of which Dominique-Vivant Denon had become director in 1802, was renamed the Musée Napoléon in 1803. A bust of the emperor by Bartolini was installed over the entrance. After the fall of the empire in 1815, each nation reclaimed its treasures and the museum was disbanded Rarely seen in France before the Revolution, Spanish art was revealed to the public with the opening of Louis-Philippe’s Spanish gallery. Exhibited in the Louvre from 1838 to 1848, before being sold in London in 1853, the collection of over 400 paintings was a major influence on artists such as Corot and Manet On February 15, 1852, Louis-Napoleon opened the Musée des Souverains on the first floor of the Colonnade. The museum displayed treasures from France’s royal dynasties, from Childeric I to Napoleon, and constituted a spectacular addition to the Louvre's collection of decorative arts.
- 6. From Palace to Museum (continued) In 1861, the emperor asked Lefuel to rebuild the west end of the decrepit Grande Galerie and the Pavillon de Flore. Henri IV's buildings were partially demolished and replaced with structures matching those to the east by Métezeau. The Grande Galerie was now more unified, but at the expense of its creators' intended variety. At the center of the new facade facing the Seine, Lefuel built the monumental Grands Guichets ("Great Wickets") adorned with an equestrian statue of Napoleon III. The Louvre’s collections were considerably enriched during the Second Empire, thanks in large part to the acquisition of the collection of the marquis Campana in 1861, which consisted of 11,385 paintings, objets d'art, sculptures, and antiquities. The collection became the Musée Napoléon III in 1863. A number of items form a major part of the Louvre's collections of Greek pottery and Etruscan antiquities displayed in the Galerie Campana In May 1871, during the last days of the Paris Commune, the army was poised to retake the city. The Communards raced to destroy the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the Cour des Comptes (the seat of France's public finance watchdog), and the Tuileries palace, a potent symbol of monarchy. The resulting fire gutted the palace buildings and threatened the Louvre. The ruins of the Tuileries were demolished, after lengthy controversy, in 1883