Arch on the square of Carrousel: history, architectural style, authors of the project and photos

Paris - the most beautiful of cities, where you can wander around the streets for days and enjoy the ubiquitous attractions, among which there are often aesthetically attractive architectural structures. One of them is a triumphal arch, but not the one on the square of the Star (Etoile). She has a sister". This is an arch on the square of Carrousel. About it and will be discussed.

A bit of history

What unites the "sisters", so this is the purpose of their erection - glorifying the victories of Napoleon. They even began to build at the same time, in 1806, only the main arch was ready 30 years later, and the one that was on the square of Carrousel celebrated its opening in 1808, on August 15.

Originally it was planned that the monument would serve as an entrance gate to the Tuileries Palace, but the house of the French kings burned long before its appearance, in 1871. Refuse to erect the monument did not, just decided that the arch on the square of Carrousel will be an independent object.

When preparations were made for the execution of the project, and the ruins of the burned down palace were already removed, the architects discovered that, by destroying this huge house, a beautiful view of the Champs-Elysées opened . So the monument was given the opportunity to become an additional decoration of Paris.

The location of the arch: where is the square of Carrousel?

There is an arch on the square of Carrousel, and she, in turn, is in the First District of Paris. Is a dividing element between the Tuileries garden and the Louvre, if you become a back to the museum and pyramid, you can see the famous arch. By the way, this was the name of the square, because earlier on this place there were demonstration military horse dressage (carousels), which the King of France, Louis de Bourbon founded, on the occasion of the birth of his son.

The description of the arch of Carrousel and interesting details

If you look at the photo of the Arch of Constantine in Rome (312 AD), you can find great similarities in structure and proportions with the Parisian landmark. Also, on closer examination, the decorative elements of the Corinthian columns of white and red marble are visible. Roughly speaking, the architects simply copied it. And although it has already passed a lot of time, and this object is considered a landmark of Paris, many have not been able to understand how you can establish this in the heart of the French capital. However, now the arch is an integral part of the square.

But it's not so bad. But the fact that the architects did not even bother to make the "top" of the arch on their own is already unforgivable. Earlier, her four horses were crowned, which was removed from St. Mark's Cathedral after the fall of the Venetian Republic. But when Napoleon abdicated, the horses were returned to "almost" the owners (the Venetians themselves stole them during the robbery in Constantinople).

The original returned to Venice, and for the second Parisian Arc de Triomphe they again made something similar - an improved copy. The symbolic figure of the World controls the wagon. From her on the sides are the statues of Victory. And the sculpture is no longer glorified by Napoleon, but by the Bourbons, but the existing inscriptions in honor of Bonaparte's victories have been preserved.

Design component of the project

The arch on the square of Carrousel (photo in the article) consists of one large and two small openings on the sides. The central part has a height of 19 m and a width of 23 m. Its ceiling length is 6.4 m and is stretched by 2.7 m. The lateral arches are smaller - 4.2 m.

The monument also includes 8 marble Corinthian columns, which are crowned with statues of representatives of the army of Napoleon. The sights of Paris on the sides are decorated with bas-reliefs. Originally they were removed, in 1815, but 15 years later they were restored, so you can see them today.

Quadriga on the top of the arch

The arch on the square of Carrousel (France) has such an unusual object as a quadriga. About it has already been written enough above, but it is not said the main thing - the author of this project, a copy of Byzantine sculpture, is the architect François-Joseph Bosio. It is also interesting that at the top of the arch there was to be a statue of the emperor. Work on it was already almost complete, but the sculpture was still covered with a black cloth.

When Napoleon asked how soon the French and he himself could be proud of the new monument, he was answered as soon as the statue of the emperor was completed. Napoleon was very angry. After all, the emperor, who fully sponsored the project and was the customer of the arch, dedicated it to the army. Thus Bonaparte wanted to glorify his subjects. He ordered immediately to remove his statue, which the workers did. But the sculpted Napoleon still found his place - on the top of the Austerlitz column on Vendome Square.

Arch on the square of Carrousel: architect

More precisely, the architects will say, as this project was being handled by Pierre Fontaine and Charles Percier. Let them create a creation that is roughly called plagiarism in French, but it was really talented people. Even their names are always written nearby, as the architects have worked together for a long time for two decades and created such masterpieces that helped Napoleon to be the "father" of the great empire.

It is worth noting such an important feature: it is Charles Percier and Pierre Francois Leonard Fontaine who are the "parents" of the finest, marvelous and truly grandiose Empire style. It can be called natural or natural, because such pompous art was created purposefully.

Arch on the square Carrousel, whose style (as you might guess) empire, is the best achievement of architects. It clearly shows how thoroughly Fontaine and Percier conducted the work so that in world art this style was not just a direction in the design of interiors and exteriors, but had a well-formed aesthetics.