(black line on the map)
On the train....
Mark and Charlotte (We are reading the book on France upside down)
Patsy McGahey - My roomie in France
I really regret when we were there, she wouldn't to go into one of the designer shops and the rest of us nixed it. She had a picture made of herself coming out of the door. LOL. I do regret that. I hope she got back to Paris and was able to go shopping. Hell, I took 2100.00 with me (including airfare) and I think I had 1700 or so to live off of for 6 weeks. I came back completely busted. Looks like I just did miss catching up with her. She died December 3, 2016 at 89 years old.
Patsy McGahey
December 17, 1927 - December 3, 2016
A longtime resident of Columbus, Patsy McDade McGahey died Saturday, December 3, 2016 at her home.
Born on December 17, 1927, in Jackson, Mississippi to James Barney McDade and Addie O’Neal McDade, Patsy spent her young life in South Mississippi and New Orleans.She attended Mississippi State College for Women, graduating with a degree in Speech and Drama in 1950. Patsy worked as a spokesperson and advertising model for WCBI early in her career. It was in Columbus that she met her husband, Thomas Arthur “Son” McGahey, Jr. They married in 1951 and started their family shortly thereafter.
Patsy was a dedicated volunteer and active in a number of local charity and philanthropic organizations. She was a Life member of Junior Auxiliary, a MSCW Golden Girl, a member of the Northeast Mississippi Delta Gamma Alumnae chapter and a lifetime member of the Magnolia Garden Club. An avid sports fan, Patsy enjoyed supporting her favorite teams: The University of Alabama, Mississippi State University (given they weren’t playing Alabama) and the Heritage Academy Patriots.
Patsy’s greatest passion in life was her family. Known as Mama Dear by all those that adored her, she was actively involved in the lives of her children, eleven grandchildren and their friends. Mama Dear is survived by three children: Sunny Whitaker (Tom ), of Columbus, MS, Tommy McGahey (Lila) of Birmingham, AL and Jem McGahey (Evelyn) of Memphis, TN; eleven grandchildren: Evans Dawson (Eric), Allison Whitaker, Robert Whitaker (Macaulay), Liz Holley (Tom), Griffin McGahey (Jennifer), Marion Marx (Edgar), Betsy Sights (Matt), Simmons McGahey, Marshall McGahey, Thomas McGahey, Patsy McGahey and eleven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her devoted caregiver and friend, Josephine “Jo” Roland.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband T.A. " Son" McGahey, her son Thomas " Arthur" McGahey, III, and daughter Patsy Wood McGahey.
Graveside services will be Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 2:00 PM at Friendship Cemetery. Visitation was Monday, December 5, 2016 at Memorial Funeral Home from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
Pallbearers will be Robert Whitaker, Eric Dawson, Griffin McGahey, Tom Holley, Edgar Marx, Thomas McGahey, Matt Sights and Thomas Fitzner. Honorary pallbearers will be Benny Colvin, Don Wingo, Keith Hankins, Dr. Jack Reed, Sammy Platt, Floyd McIntyre, Andy Naugle, Bill Lott and Jody Kennedy.
Memorials may be made to the Heritage Academy Martha Claire Kennedy Fitzner Memorial Fund, 625 Magnolia Lane, Columbus, MS 39705.
******************************The Champs Elycee and Arc de Triomphe
Arc de Triomphe (pic by CVB)
Charlotte and Mark Mitchell (pic by CVB)
The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe (Pic by CVB)
The view from the top was beautiful. I love the muted soft browns and geens (patina) and off whites. Paris is truly truly beautiful. It's a shame that the extremist are ruining it and other European cities. If only more people could be "Cest La Vie" and leave others alone. I want so dearly to go back to London and Paris. I know I'm going to be disappointed at how overrun the countries are now.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (WWI) (Pic by CVB)
In the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the border of the 8th, 16th and 17th arrondissement stands one of the greatest arches in history: the Arc de Triomphe (arch of triumph).
Napoleon's Triumphal Arch
The arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories, but he was ousted before the arch was completed. In fact, it wasn't completed until 1836 during the reign of Louis-Philippe. The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime.
The design of the arch by Jean Chalgrin is based on the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Arc de Triomphe is much higher (50m versus 15m), but it has exactly the same proportions. The triumphal arch is adorned with many reliefs, most of them commemorating the emperor's battles. Among them are the battle of Aboukir, Napoleon's victory over the Turkish and the Battle of Austerliz, where Napoleon defeated the Austrians. The best known relief is the Departure of the Volunteers in 1792, also known as the Marseillaise. At the top of the arch are thirty shields, each of them bears the name of one of Napoleon's successful battles. Below the arch is the Grave of the Unknown Soldiers, honoring the many who died during the First World War.The arch is located at the end of the Champs-Elysées, in the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle, a large circular square from which no less than twelve streets emanate. The streets are named after French military leaders.
Observation Deck -
The top of the arch features a viewing platform from where you have great views of La Defense, the Champs-Elysées and the Sacré-Coeur. Make sure you take one of the underpasses to the arch, it is too dangerous to try and cross the street. There is no elevator in the arch, so be prepared to walk up 234 steps.
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Paris's Grand Palais (Great Palace) was built for the World Fair of 1900. The building is best known for its enormous glass roof. It is home to a science museum, the Palais de la Découverte.
Grand Palais - Internet photos unless otherwise noted.
The Glass Dome
Galloping Horses
'Galloping horses' (pic by CVB)
I took this picture while in Paris in 1983. I didn't know what it was part of until tonight. Beautiful Statue.
In 1900, Paris was playing host to the World's Fair. Because of the importance of the event, the city undertook a number of building projects which included the construction of the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais and the smaller but similar Petit Palais.
The Grand Palais is one of Paris' most recognizable landmarks thanks to its magnificent glass-domed roof. It was the work of three different architects but the project was overseen by famed French architect Charles Girault, who was then given carte blanche to design the Petit Palais. The building is a beautiful combination of a classicist stone facade, Art Nouveau ironwork and glass.
The Grand Palais is currently the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world, a title once held by London's Crystal Palace, which was lost in a fire. This palace with the Belle Epoque-style pinnacle boasts 9,400 tons of steel framework, 15,000 sq. meter (162,000 sq ft) of glass, and about 5,000 square meter (5,400 sq ft) of galvanized iron/zinc roofing. The exterior is made of stone and features beautiful colored mosaics and intricately sculpted statues.
The Grand Palais is one of Paris' most recognizable landmarks thanks to its magnificent glass-domed roof. It was the work of three different architects but the project was overseen by famed French architect Charles Girault, who was then given carte blanche to design the Petit Palais. The building is a beautiful combination of a classicist stone facade, Art Nouveau ironwork and glass.
The Grand Palais is currently the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world, a title once held by London's Crystal Palace, which was lost in a fire. This palace with the Belle Epoque-style pinnacle boasts 9,400 tons of steel framework, 15,000 sq. meter (162,000 sq ft) of glass, and about 5,000 square meter (5,400 sq ft) of galvanized iron/zinc roofing. The exterior is made of stone and features beautiful colored mosaics and intricately sculpted statues.
Renovations
'Peace'
After one of the Grand Palais' glass ceiling tiles fell in 1993, the building was closed for more than a decade for renovations. The first portion reopened in 2004, the remainder in 2007.
Renovations included repair of the metal framework, replacement of the glass, and the repairing and recovering of the roof. Some of the Grand Palais's artwork also got a facelift, including Georges Recipon's galloping horse sculptures at the top of the building's corners. The mosaics were also completely repaired and restored.
Renovations included repair of the metal framework, replacement of the glass, and the repairing and recovering of the roof. Some of the Grand Palais's artwork also got a facelift, including Georges Recipon's galloping horse sculptures at the top of the building's corners. The mosaics were also completely repaired and restored.
What's Inside?
Palais de la Découverte
For more than one hundred years, the Grand Palais has been a public exhibition hall and host to a variety of grand events. Though the main gallery is now a designated site for displaying contemporary art, you'll see everything here from antique car shows to fashion extravaganzas from some of Paris's top designers.
There are actually three different areas in the Grand Palais, each with a different entrance: the Palais de la Découverte (a science museum) is at the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, the Galeries National du Grand Palais (an exposition hall) has an entrance at the Clémenceau Square and the entrance to the Nef du Grand Palais (an event hall) is at the Avenue Winston Churchill (opposite the Petit Palais).
There are actually three different areas in the Grand Palais, each with a different entrance: the Palais de la Découverte (a science museum) is at the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, the Galeries National du Grand Palais (an exposition hall) has an entrance at the Clémenceau Square and the entrance to the Nef du Grand Palais (an event hall) is at the Avenue Winston Churchill (opposite the Petit Palais).
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Charlotte having dinner on the Champs Elysee.
I remember so much about this evening. It looks a lot darker than it is. Patsy and I had been traipsing around Paris (ok - someone has to do it - lol). We stopped on the Champs Elycee (We ALWAYS ended up here). We decided to have dinner. And it was a great decision Dinner was so good. No idea what I ate, although I remember some delicious rolls with butter. And I'm quite sure I had chocolate mouse for dessert. The guys at this restaurant were awesomely great looking. Tall dark handsome with french accents. WHO could ask for more? The gorgeous waiter was giving us our bill, etc and he said 'how long are you here in Paris?" (Do your best memory of a french accent here). I said we have to go back to London tomorrow. He grabs his heart and says 'Be still my heart..., you mustn't leave!" I'm a puddle on the floor (ok - we're outside). I was 'hooked, line, sinker" But, no worries, I was with Patsy. I know that even a great gorgeous french man was not going to stop me from going back to London and back home to my family. But it was nice that he gave me the full service (flirting). LOL. .....Somewhere in my room, I have an ash tray that I .....er..... borrowed? LOL. Hey - it's good advertising.
The Champs Elycee and Arc de Triomphe
wikipedia
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile Triumphal Arch of the Star) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile — the étoile or "star" of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues. As the central cohesive element of the Axe historique (historic axis, a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route running from the courtyard of the Louvre to the Grande Arche de la Défense), the Arc de Triomphe was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pits heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages.
Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of 50 metres (164 ft), width of 45 m (148 ft), and depth of 22 m (72 ft), while its large vault is 29.19 m (95.8 ft) high and 14.62 m (48.0 ft) wide. The smaller transverse vaults are 18.68 m (61.3 ft) high and 8.44 m (27.7 ft) wide. Three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (marking the end of hostilities in World War I), Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the arch's primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel.[3][4][5]
History
The Arc is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed. The architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean-Nicolas Huyot. During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1833 and 1836, by the architects Goust, then Huyot, under the direction of Héricart de Thury. On 15 December 1840, brought back to France from Saint Helena, Napoleon's remains passed under it on their way to the Emperor's final resting place at the Invalides.[6] Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was displayed under the Arc during the night of 22 May 1885.
The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off on the day, it is said, that the Battle of Verdun began in 1916. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations.[7] On 7 August 1919, Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the Arc.[8] Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight.
Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns and for the annual Bastille Day Military Parade. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944[9] and 1945. A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées and U.S. airplanes fly overhead on 29 August 1944. After the interment of the Unknown Soldier, however, all military parades (including the aforementioned post-1919) have avoided marching through the actual arch. The route taken is up to the arch and then around its side, out of respect for the tomb and its symbolism. Both Hitler in 1940 and de Gaulle in 1944 observed this custom.
In the prolongation of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a new arch, the Grande Arche de la Défense, was built in 1982, completing the line of monuments that forms Paris's Axe historique. After the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, the Grande Arche is the third arch built on the same perspective.
The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin (1739–1811), in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture (see, for example, the triumphal Arch of Titus). Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire. The main sculptures are not integral friezes but are treated as independent trophies applied to the vast ashlar masonry masses, not unlike the gilt-bronze appliqués on Empire furniture. The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are The Triumph of 1810 (Cortot), Resistance and Peace (both by Antoine Étex) and the most renowned of them all, Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 commonly called La Marseillaise (François Rude). The face of the allegorical representation of France calling forth her people on this last was used as the belt buckle for the honorary rank of Marshal of France. Since the fall of Napoleon (1815), the sculpture representing Peace is interpreted as commemorating the Peace of 1815.
In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major French victories in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.[11] The inside walls of the monument list the names of 660 people, among which are 558 French generals of the First French Empire;[12] The names of those generals killed in battle are underlined. Also inscribed, on the shorter sides of the four supporting columns, are the names of the major French victories in the Napoleonic Wars. The battles that took place in the period between the departure of Napoleon from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo are not included.
For four years from 1882 to 1886, a monumental sculpture by Alexandre Falguière topped the arch. Titled Le triomphe de la Révolution ("The Triumph of the Revolution"), it depicted a chariot drawn by horses preparing "to crush Anarchy and Despotism". It remained there only four years before falling in ruins.
Inside the monument, a permanent exhibition conceived by the artist Maurice Benayoun and the architect Christophe Girault opened in February 2007.[13] The steel and new media installation interrogates the symbolism of the national monument, questioning the balance of its symbolic message during the last two centuries, oscillating between war and peace.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Interred on Armistice Day 1920,[14] it has the first eternal flame lit in Western and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the fourth century. It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (now in both world wars).
A ceremony is held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every 11 November on the anniversary of the armistice signed by the Entente Powers and Germany in 1918. It was originally decided on 12 November 1919 to bury the unknown soldier's remains in the Panthéon, but a public letter-writing campaign led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc de Triomphe. The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on 10 November 1920, and put in its final resting place on 28 January 1921. The slab on top bears the inscription ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANÇAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914–1918 ("Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918").
In 1961, American President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President Charles de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and witnessed Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that had been inspired by her visit to France.
Details
The four main sculptural groups on each of the Arc's pillars are:
Le Départ de 1792 (or La Marseillaise), by François Rude. The sculptural group celebrates the cause of the French First Republic during the 10 August uprising. Above the volunteers is the winged personification of Liberty. This group served as a recruitment tool in the early months of World War I and encouraged the French to invest in war loans in 1915–16.[15]
Le Triomphe de 1810, by Jean-Pierre Cortot celebrates the Treaty of Schönbrunn. This group features Napoleon, crowned by the goddess of Victory.
La Résistance de 1814, by Antoine Étex commemorates the French resistance to the Allied armies during the War of the Sixth Coalition.
La Paix de 1815, by Antoine Étex commemorates the Treaty of Paris, concluded in that year.
The Arc de Triomphe is accessible by the RER and Métro, with exit at the Charles de Gaulle—Étoile station. Because of heavy traffic on the roundabout of which the Arc is the centre, it is recommended that pedestrians use one of two underpasses located at the Champs Élysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée. A lift will take visitors almost to the top – to the attic, where there is a small museum which contains large models of the Arc and tells its story from the time of its construction. Another 46 steps remain to climb in order to reach the top, the terrasse, from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Paris.[citation needed]
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Conciergerie Where Marie Antoniette was kept prisoner
Charlotte the tacky tourist
Wikipedia
The Conciergerie (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃sjɛʁʒəʁi]) is a building in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité (literally "Island of the City"), formerly a prison but presently used mostly for law courts. It was part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which consisted of the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice and the Sainte-Chapelle. Hundreds of prisoners during the French Revolution were taken from the Conciergerie to be executed by guillotine at a number of locations around Paris.
The west part of the island was originally the site of a Merovingian palace, and was known initially as the Palais de la Cité. From the 10th to the 14th centuries it was the main palace of the medieval Kings of France. During the reigns of Louis IX (Saint Louis) (1214–1270) and Philippe IV (Philip the Fair) (1284–1314) the Merovingian palace was extended and fortified more extensively.
Louis IX added the Sainte-Chapelle and associated galleries, while Philippe IV created the towered facade on the Seine river side and a large hall. Both are excellent examples of French religious and secular architecture of the period. The Sainte-Chapelle was built in the French royal style to house the crown of thorns that was brought back from the Crusades and to serve as a royal chapel. The "Grande Salle" (Great Hall) was one of the largest in Europe, and its lower story, known as "La Salle des Gens d'Armes" (The Hall of the Soldiers) survives at 64m long, 27.5m wide and 8.5m high. It was used as a dining room for the 2,000 staff members who worked in the palace. It was heated with four large fireplaces and lit by many windows, now blocked. It was also used for royal banquets and judicial proceedings. The neighboring Salle des Gardes was used as an antechamber to the Great Hall immediately above, where the king held his lit de justice (a session of parliament in the king's presence).
The early Valois kings continued to modify the palace during the 14th century, but Charles V abandoned the palace during 1358, relocating across the river to the Louvre Palace. The palace continued to serve an administrative function and still included the chancellery and French Parliament. In the king's absence, he appointed a concierge to command of the palace, a fact which gave the palace its eventual name. During 1391, part of the building was converted for use as a prison and took its name from the ruling office. Its prisoners were a mixture of common criminals and political prisoners. In common with other prisons of the time, the treatment of prisoners was dependent on their wealth, status and associates. Wealthy or influential prisoners usually got their own cells with a bed, desk and materials for reading and writing. Less-well-off prisoners could afford to pay for simply furnished cells known as pistoles, which would be equipped with a rough bed and perhaps a table. The poorest, known as the pailleux from the paille (hay) that they slept on, would be confined to dark, damp, vermin-infested cells known as oubliettes (literally "forgotten places"). In keeping with the name, they were left to live or die in conditions that were ideal for the plague and other infectious diseases, which were rife in the unsanitary conditions of the prison.
Three towers survive from the medieval Conciergerie: the Caesar Tower, named in honor of the Roman Emperors; the Silver Tower, named for its alleged use as the store for the royal treasure; and the Bonbec ("good beak") Tower, named for the torture chamber that it housed, in which victims were encouraged to "sing". The building was extended during the reigns of later kings with France's first public clock's being installed about 1370. The current clock dates from 1535.
Despite lasting only ten months, the Reign of Terror (September 1793-July 1794) had a profound effect on France. More than 40,000 people died from execution and imprisonment, and France would not be a republic again for nearly half a century.
The National Convention enacted the Law of Suspects on September 17, 1793. This act declared that anyone considered a counterrevolutionary or enemy of the republic was guilty of treason and, thus, condemned to death. The Revolutionary Tribunal was set up in the Palace of Justice. The two fates for those sent before the tribunal were acquittal or death, with no possibility of appeal. Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, a radical, was named public prosecutor. The Tribunal sat in the Great Hall between 2 April 1793 and 31 May 1795 and sent nearly 2,600 prisoners to the guillotine.
The Conciergerie prison became the main penitentiary of a network of prisons throughout Paris, and was the last place of housing for more than 2,700 people, who were summarily executed by guillotine. The dank dungeons were a stark contrast to the beautiful architecture of the palace above. The quality of life of the prisoners was based mainly on their personal wealth and the whims of the jailers. The revolutionary period continued the prison's tradition of interning prisoners based on wealth, such that wealthier prisoners could rent a bed for 27 livres 12 sous for the first month, 22 livres 10 sous for subsequent months. Even when the price was decreased to 15 livres, the commanders of the prison made a fortune: as the Terror escalated, a prisoner could pay for a bed and be executed a few days later, freeing the bed for a new inmate who would then pay as well. One memoirist termed the Conciergerie "the most lucrative furnished lodgings in Paris".[1] Only celebrity prisoners were assigned cells to themselves. Most of the pistole inmates were stuffed into a single room that abutted a local hospital, making disease an inevitability. The cramped cells were infested with rats, and the stench of urine permeated every room.
All the prisoners, except those locked in the dungeons, were allowed to walk about the prisoners' gallery from 8 a.m. to an hour before sunset. Roll call was always a tortuous proceeding because many of the jailers were illiterate and it could take hours for them to confirm that all of the prisoners were accounted for. A principal jailer, who sat by the door, determined whether visitors would be allowed inside the prison. His decision depended more on his mood than any set proceedings. He was also in charge of resolving disputes between jailers and their charges.
Trials and executions progressed in a rapid, unpredictable manner; one could be tried by the court and executed before the next morning. The condemned would be walked through the Salle de la Toilette, where their personal belongings were confiscated. Carts loaded them in the May Courtyard and brought them to guillotines throughout Paris, the most famous in the Place de la Concorde.
Famous prisoners include Marie Antoinette, poet André Chénier, Charlotte Corday, Madame Élisabeth, Madame du Barry and the 21 Girondins, purged at the beginning of the Terror. Georges Danton later awaited his execution here, and, during the Thermidorian Reaction, Robespierre himself was interned for a brief time before his execution.
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Seine River Cruise - Musee d'Orsay
Musee d'Orsay
This picture I took from the Seine River Cruise. It is the Musee D'Orsay which was at one time a Railway station. All the beautiful buildings in Paris. I would love to be able to draw and paint.
New Railway Stations -At the turn of the nineteenth century, two large railway stations were built in Paris, the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d'Orsay. The Gare d'Orsay had the most prominent site, along the Seine opposite the Louvre. The railway station was planned by the Compagnie d'Orléans, who wanted to bring electrified trains right into the heart of Paris. The architect first appointed was Eugene Henard. He intended to use industrial material on the facade facing the Louvre, Facing fierce protest from preservationist.
Compagnie d'Orléans decided to hold a competition supervised by a parliamentary commission. The winner of this contest was Victor Laloux, who had also designed the railway station in Tours, France.
His design was acclaimed for the integration of the metal vault in the stone exterior. The hall measures 140 meter long, 40 meter wide and 32 meter high (459 x 132 x 105 ft). The whole structure is 175 meter long and 75 meter wide (574 x 246 ft). An impressive 12 000 ton metal was used for the construction of the gare d'Orsay, which is well more than the amount of metal used for the Eiffel .
The Railway Station -The Gare d'Orsay was inaugurated on the 14th of July 1900 for the Paris World Exposition and was considered a masterpiece of industrial architecture. But soon the platforms had become too short for the now much longer trains and as early as 1939, the gare d'Orsay was out of use as a train station. Over time it was used as a parking lot, as a shooting stand, as a theatre location and even as a reception center for prisoners of war.
Now a Museum -The train station had been completely abandoned since 1961 when it was saved from demolition by the French president Pompidou. In 1978 his successor, president Giscard d'Estaing, decided to use the Gare
d'Orsay as a museum for nineteenth and twentieth century art.
It would not only contain paintings, but it would also cover different art forms, including sculptures, engravings, photos, film, architecture and urbanism. Restoration of the Musée d'Orsay, as it is now called, started in 1979 and finally on the 29th of November 1986, the museum was inaugurated by the French president, François Mitterrand.
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Seine River Cruise -Pont de l'Alma Bridge and Tunnel
Coordinates: 48°51′48.68″N 02°18′06.58″E
Pont de l'Alma (Alma Bridge in English) is a road bridge in Paris across the Seine. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War, in which the Ottoman-Franco-British alliance achieved victory over the Russian army, on 20 September 1854.
History - Construction of an arch bridge took place between 1854 and 1856. It was designed by Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie and was inaugurated by Napoleon III on 2 April 1856. Each side of both of the two piers was decorated with a statue of military nature: a Zouave and a grenadier by Georges Diébolt, and a skirmisher and an artilleryman by Arnaud.
The general public took the original bridge as a measuring instrument for water levels in times of flooding on the Seine: access to the footpaths by the river embankments usually was closed when the Seine's level reached the feet of The Zouave; when the water hit his thighs, the river was unnavigable. During the great flood of the Seine in 1910, the level reached his shoulders. The French Civil Service used the Pont de la Tournelle, not the Pont de l'Alma, to gauge flood levels, and since 1868 uses the Pont d'Austerlitz.
The bridge is close to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel where Diana, Princess of Wales was involved in a fatal car crash on 31 August 1997.[1][2] The Flame of Liberty (completed in 1987), at the bridge's north end has become an unofficial memorial to Diana. https://travelfranceonline.com/princess-diana-memorial-flame-of-liberty/
In 1989 the U.S.A. gave a sculpture of the Flame of Liberty to France in gratitude for the restoration work done on the Statue of Liberty on the occasion of its centennial. The 3.5 m tall Flame of Liberty of the Place de l'Alma is a full-sized gilded copper replica of the torch of the Statue of Liberty guarding the entrance of New-York Harbour. It stands on a grey-and-black marble pedestal placed just above the exit of the tunnel. The cast was funded with the donations raised by the International Herald Tribune readers from all around the world on the occasion of the centennial of the newspaper's publication in Paris. The International Herald Tribune unveiled the monument in 1989. The commemorative plaque placed at the foot of the Flame reads as follows: "The Flame of Liberty. An exact replica of the Statue of Liberty's flame offered to the people of France by donors throughout the world as a symbol of the Franco-American friendship. On the occasion of the centennial of the International Herald Tribune. Paris 1887-1987." Directions : 8th district - Place de l'Alma
The Metro station Alma - Marceau is near the north end of the bridge, RER station Pont de l'Alma near the south end.
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Pont Alexandra III
Another picture I took from the Seine River Cruise. This was really cool. Such a ritzy bridge. Not sure if real gold but if it is...WOW!.
same bridge, internet picture from google search.
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La Louvre, Pont Des Arts, Institute de France at Pont Des Arts
La Louvre
These are internet pictures.
Pont des Arts and Institute de France
La Louvre East Wing
The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the central square (cour carrée) of the Palais du Louvre, (which had been termed the "Palais des Arts" under the First French Empire).The Champs Elycee and Arc de Triomphe
wikipedia
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile Triumphal Arch of the Star) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile — the étoile or "star" of the juncture formed by its twelve radiating avenues. As the central cohesive element of the Axe historique (historic axis, a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route running from the courtyard of the Louvre to the Grande Arche de la Défense), the Arc de Triomphe was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pits heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages.
Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an overall height of 50 metres (164 ft), width of 45 m (148 ft), and depth of 22 m (72 ft), while its large vault is 29.19 m (95.8 ft) high and 14.62 m (48.0 ft) wide. The smaller transverse vaults are 18.68 m (61.3 ft) high and 8.44 m (27.7 ft) wide. Three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919 (marking the end of hostilities in World War I), Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the arch's primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel.[3][4][5]
History
The Arc is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes. Laying the foundations alone took two years and, in 1810, when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed. The architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean-Nicolas Huyot. During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1833 and 1836, by the architects Goust, then Huyot, under the direction of Héricart de Thury. On 15 December 1840, brought back to France from Saint Helena, Napoleon's remains passed under it on their way to the Emperor's final resting place at the Invalides.[6] Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was displayed under the Arc during the night of 22 May 1885.
The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off on the day, it is said, that the Battle of Verdun began in 1916. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations.[7] On 7 August 1919, Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the Arc.[8] Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight.
Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns and for the annual Bastille Day Military Parade. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944[9] and 1945. A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées and U.S. airplanes fly overhead on 29 August 1944. After the interment of the Unknown Soldier, however, all military parades (including the aforementioned post-1919) have avoided marching through the actual arch. The route taken is up to the arch and then around its side, out of respect for the tomb and its symbolism. Both Hitler in 1940 and de Gaulle in 1944 observed this custom.
In the prolongation of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a new arch, the Grande Arche de la Défense, was built in 1982, completing the line of monuments that forms Paris's Axe historique. After the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, the Grande Arche is the third arch built on the same perspective.
The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin (1739–1811), in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture (see, for example, the triumphal Arch of Titus). Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire. The main sculptures are not integral friezes but are treated as independent trophies applied to the vast ashlar masonry masses, not unlike the gilt-bronze appliqués on Empire furniture. The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are The Triumph of 1810 (Cortot), Resistance and Peace (both by Antoine Étex) and the most renowned of them all, Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 commonly called La Marseillaise (François Rude). The face of the allegorical representation of France calling forth her people on this last was used as the belt buckle for the honorary rank of Marshal of France. Since the fall of Napoleon (1815), the sculpture representing Peace is interpreted as commemorating the Peace of 1815.
In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major French victories in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.[11] The inside walls of the monument list the names of 660 people, among which are 558 French generals of the First French Empire;[12] The names of those generals killed in battle are underlined. Also inscribed, on the shorter sides of the four supporting columns, are the names of the major French victories in the Napoleonic Wars. The battles that took place in the period between the departure of Napoleon from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo are not included.
For four years from 1882 to 1886, a monumental sculpture by Alexandre Falguière topped the arch. Titled Le triomphe de la Révolution ("The Triumph of the Revolution"), it depicted a chariot drawn by horses preparing "to crush Anarchy and Despotism". It remained there only four years before falling in ruins.
Inside the monument, a permanent exhibition conceived by the artist Maurice Benayoun and the architect Christophe Girault opened in February 2007.[13] The steel and new media installation interrogates the symbolism of the national monument, questioning the balance of its symbolic message during the last two centuries, oscillating between war and peace.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Interred on Armistice Day 1920,[14] it has the first eternal flame lit in Western and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the fourth century. It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (now in both world wars).
A ceremony is held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every 11 November on the anniversary of the armistice signed by the Entente Powers and Germany in 1918. It was originally decided on 12 November 1919 to bury the unknown soldier's remains in the Panthéon, but a public letter-writing campaign led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc de Triomphe. The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on 10 November 1920, and put in its final resting place on 28 January 1921. The slab on top bears the inscription ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANÇAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914–1918 ("Here lies a French soldier who died for the fatherland 1914–1918").
In 1961, American President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by French President Charles de Gaulle. After the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs Kennedy remembered the eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe and requested that an eternal flame be placed next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. President Charles de Gaulle went to Washington to attend the state funeral, and witnessed Jacqueline Kennedy lighting the eternal flame that had been inspired by her visit to France.
Details
The four main sculptural groups on each of the Arc's pillars are:
Le Départ de 1792 (or La Marseillaise), by François Rude. The sculptural group celebrates the cause of the French First Republic during the 10 August uprising. Above the volunteers is the winged personification of Liberty. This group served as a recruitment tool in the early months of World War I and encouraged the French to invest in war loans in 1915–16.[15]
Le Triomphe de 1810, by Jean-Pierre Cortot celebrates the Treaty of Schönbrunn. This group features Napoleon, crowned by the goddess of Victory.
La Résistance de 1814, by Antoine Étex commemorates the French resistance to the Allied armies during the War of the Sixth Coalition.
La Paix de 1815, by Antoine Étex commemorates the Treaty of Paris, concluded in that year.
The Arc de Triomphe is accessible by the RER and Métro, with exit at the Charles de Gaulle—Étoile station. Because of heavy traffic on the roundabout of which the Arc is the centre, it is recommended that pedestrians use one of two underpasses located at the Champs Élysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée. A lift will take visitors almost to the top – to the attic, where there is a small museum which contains large models of the Arc and tells its story from the time of its construction. Another 46 steps remain to climb in order to reach the top, the terrasse, from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Paris.[citation needed]
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Conciergerie Where Marie Antoniette was kept prisoner
Charlotte the tacky tourist
Wikipedia
The Conciergerie (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃sjɛʁʒəʁi]) is a building in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité (literally "Island of the City"), formerly a prison but presently used mostly for law courts. It was part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which consisted of the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice and the Sainte-Chapelle. Hundreds of prisoners during the French Revolution were taken from the Conciergerie to be executed by guillotine at a number of locations around Paris.
The Middle Ages
The Hall of the Guards, one of the largest surviving medieval parts of the Conciergerie.
Louis IX added the Sainte-Chapelle and associated galleries, while Philippe IV created the towered facade on the Seine river side and a large hall. Both are excellent examples of French religious and secular architecture of the period. The Sainte-Chapelle was built in the French royal style to house the crown of thorns that was brought back from the Crusades and to serve as a royal chapel. The "Grande Salle" (Great Hall) was one of the largest in Europe, and its lower story, known as "La Salle des Gens d'Armes" (The Hall of the Soldiers) survives at 64m long, 27.5m wide and 8.5m high. It was used as a dining room for the 2,000 staff members who worked in the palace. It was heated with four large fireplaces and lit by many windows, now blocked. It was also used for royal banquets and judicial proceedings. The neighboring Salle des Gardes was used as an antechamber to the Great Hall immediately above, where the king held his lit de justice (a session of parliament in the king's presence).
The early Valois kings continued to modify the palace during the 14th century, but Charles V abandoned the palace during 1358, relocating across the river to the Louvre Palace. The palace continued to serve an administrative function and still included the chancellery and French Parliament. In the king's absence, he appointed a concierge to command of the palace, a fact which gave the palace its eventual name. During 1391, part of the building was converted for use as a prison and took its name from the ruling office. Its prisoners were a mixture of common criminals and political prisoners. In common with other prisons of the time, the treatment of prisoners was dependent on their wealth, status and associates. Wealthy or influential prisoners usually got their own cells with a bed, desk and materials for reading and writing. Less-well-off prisoners could afford to pay for simply furnished cells known as pistoles, which would be equipped with a rough bed and perhaps a table. The poorest, known as the pailleux from the paille (hay) that they slept on, would be confined to dark, damp, vermin-infested cells known as oubliettes (literally "forgotten places"). In keeping with the name, they were left to live or die in conditions that were ideal for the plague and other infectious diseases, which were rife in the unsanitary conditions of the prison.
Three towers survive from the medieval Conciergerie: the Caesar Tower, named in honor of the Roman Emperors; the Silver Tower, named for its alleged use as the store for the royal treasure; and the Bonbec ("good beak") Tower, named for the torture chamber that it housed, in which victims were encouraged to "sing". The building was extended during the reigns of later kings with France's first public clock's being installed about 1370. The current clock dates from 1535.
The Conciergerie and the Reign of Terror
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The Palais de Justice, the Conciergerie and the Tour de l'Horloge, by Adrien Dauzats, after 1858.
The Conciergerie closeup.
Marie Antoinette's Cell in the Conciergerie.
The National Convention enacted the Law of Suspects on September 17, 1793. This act declared that anyone considered a counterrevolutionary or enemy of the republic was guilty of treason and, thus, condemned to death. The Revolutionary Tribunal was set up in the Palace of Justice. The two fates for those sent before the tribunal were acquittal or death, with no possibility of appeal. Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, a radical, was named public prosecutor. The Tribunal sat in the Great Hall between 2 April 1793 and 31 May 1795 and sent nearly 2,600 prisoners to the guillotine.
The Conciergerie prison became the main penitentiary of a network of prisons throughout Paris, and was the last place of housing for more than 2,700 people, who were summarily executed by guillotine. The dank dungeons were a stark contrast to the beautiful architecture of the palace above. The quality of life of the prisoners was based mainly on their personal wealth and the whims of the jailers. The revolutionary period continued the prison's tradition of interning prisoners based on wealth, such that wealthier prisoners could rent a bed for 27 livres 12 sous for the first month, 22 livres 10 sous for subsequent months. Even when the price was decreased to 15 livres, the commanders of the prison made a fortune: as the Terror escalated, a prisoner could pay for a bed and be executed a few days later, freeing the bed for a new inmate who would then pay as well. One memoirist termed the Conciergerie "the most lucrative furnished lodgings in Paris".[1] Only celebrity prisoners were assigned cells to themselves. Most of the pistole inmates were stuffed into a single room that abutted a local hospital, making disease an inevitability. The cramped cells were infested with rats, and the stench of urine permeated every room.
All the prisoners, except those locked in the dungeons, were allowed to walk about the prisoners' gallery from 8 a.m. to an hour before sunset. Roll call was always a tortuous proceeding because many of the jailers were illiterate and it could take hours for them to confirm that all of the prisoners were accounted for. A principal jailer, who sat by the door, determined whether visitors would be allowed inside the prison. His decision depended more on his mood than any set proceedings. He was also in charge of resolving disputes between jailers and their charges.
Trials and executions progressed in a rapid, unpredictable manner; one could be tried by the court and executed before the next morning. The condemned would be walked through the Salle de la Toilette, where their personal belongings were confiscated. Carts loaded them in the May Courtyard and brought them to guillotines throughout Paris, the most famous in the Place de la Concorde.
Famous prisoners include Marie Antoinette, poet André Chénier, Charlotte Corday, Madame Élisabeth, Madame du Barry and the 21 Girondins, purged at the beginning of the Terror. Georges Danton later awaited his execution here, and, during the Thermidorian Reaction, Robespierre himself was interned for a brief time before his execution.
Post-Revolution and present
After the Restoration of the Bourbons during the 19th century, the Conciergerie continued to be used as a prison for high-value prisoners, most notably the future Napoleon III. Marie Antoinette's cell was converted into a chapel dedicated to her memory. The Conciergerie and Palais de Justice underwent major rebuilding during the mid-19th century, drastically altering their external appearance. While the building looks like a brooding medieval fortress, this appearance actually only dates from about 1858. A description from 1825 gives this impression of the structure before the rebuilding:The buildings which form this prison still retain the hideous character of feudal times. The préau presents a kind of area or court, one hundred and eighty feet in length by sixty in breadth, round which is a gallery leading to the cells, and communicating by stairs to the upper storeys. It was partly constructed in the thirteenth century, and partly rebuilt in modern times, and is ten or twelve feet below the level of the adjacent streets; it serves as a promenade for the prisoners. The dungeons, which have not been used for the last thirty years, are twenty-three feet in length by eleven and a half in height.[2]The Conciergerie was decommissioned during 1914 and opened to the public as a national historical monument. It is presently a popular tourist attraction, although only a relatively small part of the building is open to public access; much of it is still used for the Paris law courts.
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Seine River Cruise - Musee d'Orsay
Musee d'Orsay
This picture I took from the Seine River Cruise. It is the Musee D'Orsay which was at one time a Railway station. All the beautiful buildings in Paris. I would love to be able to draw and paint.
http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/garedorsay.htm
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum housed in a grand railway station built in 1900. Home to many sculptures and impressionist paintings, it has become one of Paris's most popular museums.
New Railway Stations -At the turn of the nineteenth century, two large railway stations were built in Paris, the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d'Orsay. The Gare d'Orsay had the most prominent site, along the Seine opposite the Louvre. The railway station was planned by the Compagnie d'Orléans, who wanted to bring electrified trains right into the heart of Paris. The architect first appointed was Eugene Henard. He intended to use industrial material on the facade facing the Louvre, Facing fierce protest from preservationist.
One of the Station's giant clocks
A clock seen from inside
The museum at night
His design was acclaimed for the integration of the metal vault in the stone exterior. The hall measures 140 meter long, 40 meter wide and 32 meter high (459 x 132 x 105 ft). The whole structure is 175 meter long and 75 meter wide (574 x 246 ft). An impressive 12 000 ton metal was used for the construction of the gare d'Orsay, which is well more than the amount of metal used for the Eiffel .
Now a Museum -The train station had been completely abandoned since 1961 when it was saved from demolition by the French president Pompidou. In 1978 his successor, president Giscard d'Estaing, decided to use the Gare
Inside the museum
It would not only contain paintings, but it would also cover different art forms, including sculptures, engravings, photos, film, architecture and urbanism. Restoration of the Musée d'Orsay, as it is now called, started in 1979 and finally on the 29th of November 1986, the museum was inaugurated by the French president, François Mitterrand.
Collection - When it opened the museum contained some 2300 paintings, 1500 sculptures and 1000 other objects. Most of these works of art came from other museums such as the Musée du Luxembourg. Over time the collection has expanded significantly mainly due to acquisitions and gifts. It covers a period from the mid-nineteenth century up to 1914 and contains works from Degas, Rodin, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, van Gogh and others.
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Seine River Cruise -Pont de l'Alma Bridge and Tunnel
Coordinates: 48°51′48.68″N 02°18′06.58″E
Pont de l'Alma (Alma Bridge in English) is a road bridge in Paris across the Seine. It was named to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War, in which the Ottoman-Franco-British alliance achieved victory over the Russian army, on 20 September 1854.
The Zouave statue and flooding
I took this picture of the Zouave State at the Pont d'Alma Bridge (& Tunnel). Now 2017, I realize this is the same tunnel where Diana Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed were fatally injured. I'm taking time to write my memories (my journals were destroyed during Hurricane Floyd), and of all the statues....I would have photographed this one/this location.
The Zouave statue
The Zouave statue, 3 June 2016
Reconstruction
The bridge underwent complete reconstruction as a girder bridge between 1970 and 1974, as it had been too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic both on and below it; moreover, the structure had subsided some 80 centimeters. Only the statue of the Zouave was retained: the Skirmisher was relocated to the Gravelle Stronghold in Vincennes, the Grenadier to Dijon, and the Artilleryman to La Fère.Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Entrance to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel, the site where Diana's car hit a Fiat and then the wall
Flame of Liberty - Princess Diana Memorial
Technical specifications
Pont de l'Alma has a length of 153 meters (502 ft) and a width of 42 meters (138 ft).
Location on the Seine
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Pont Alexandra III
same bridge, internet picture from google search.
Most people consider the nineteenth century Pont Alexandre III the most beautiful bridge in Paris. It is without a doubt the city's most opulently decorated bridge.
Orientation
Aligned with the Esplanade des Invalides, the Pont Alexandre III connects the Grand and Petit Palais on the right bank with the Hôtel des Invalides on the left bank.
Construction
The bridge was built at the end of the nineteenth century as part of a series of projects undertaken for the Universal Exposition of 1900. The exposition took place on either side of the Seine river and the new bridge would enable the millions of visitors to more easily cross the river.
Construction of the bridge, designed by the architects Résal and Alby, took almost three years. The structure was first prefabricated in a factory and later transported and assembled by a large crane.
One of the requirements for the bridge was that it should not obstruct the view on the Invalides and Champs-Elysées. This resulted in a very low 40 meters (132 ft) wide bridge with a single 107.5 meters (353 ft) long span and a height of only 6 meters (20 ft).
Construction of the bridge, designed by the architects Résal and Alby, took almost three years. The structure was first prefabricated in a factory and later transported and assembled by a large crane.
One of the requirements for the bridge was that it should not obstruct the view on the Invalides and Champs-Elysées. This resulted in a very low 40 meters (132 ft) wide bridge with a single 107.5 meters (353 ft) long span and a height of only 6 meters (20 ft).
Ornaments
Lampposts
The bridge is lavishly decorated with lampposts and sculptures of cherubs and nymphs. On each end of the Pont Alexandre III are large gilded statues on 17 meters (56 ft) high granite pillars. Each of the ornaments on the bridge was created by a different artist.
Tsar Alexander III
Even though construction of the bridge only started in May 1897, the first stone was already laid by the Russian Tsar Nicolas II in October 1896. The bridge - which was to symbolize Russian-French friendship - was named after his father, Tsar Alexander III.
Universal Exposition of 1900
The Pont Alexandre III opened just in time for the Universal Exposition of 1900 together with several structures that still stand today like the Gare d'Orsay, the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais. The exposition would attract an impressive 50 million visitors.
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La Louvre, Pont Des Arts, Institute de France at Pont Des Arts
La Louvre
La Louvre East Wing
Bridge circa 1887 with view of Institut de France
On 17 March 1975, the French Ministry of Culture listed the Pont des Arts as a national historic monument.[2]
In 1976, the Inspector of Bridges and Causeways (Ponts et Chaussées) reported several deficiencies on the bridge. More specifically, he noted the damage that had been caused by two aerial bombardments sustained during World War I and World War II and the harm done from the multiple collisions caused by boats. The bridge would be closed to circulation in 1977 and, in 1979, suffered a 60-metre collapse after a barge rammed into it.
The present bridge was built between 1981 and 1984 "identically" according to the plans of Louis Arretche, who had decided to reduce the number of arches from nine to seven, allowing the look of the old bridge to be preserved while realigning the new structure with the Pont Neuf. On 27 June 1984, the newly reconstructed bridge was inaugurated by Jacques Chirac, then the mayor of Paris.
The bridge has sometimes served as a place for art exhibitions, and is today a studio en plein air for painters, artists and photographers who are drawn to its unique point of view. The Pont des Arts is also frequently a spot for picnics during the summer.
The Argentinian writer, Julio Cortázar, talks about this bridge in his book "Rayuela". When Horacio Oliveira goes with the pythia and this tells him that the bridge for La Maga is the "Ponts des Arts".
In 1991, UNESCO listed the entire Parisian riverfront, from the Eiffel Tower to the end of the Ile Saint Louis, as a World Heritage Site. Therefore, the Pont des Arts is now a part of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.[3]
Love locks
Lovers on the Pont des Arts
Pont des Arts Love locks
Tourists on the Pont des Arts
In August 2014, the Paris Mayor's Office began to say publicly that they wanted to encourage tourists to take "selfies" instead of leaving love locks, when they launched the "Love Without Locks" campaign and social media hashtag. The web site states: "Our bridges can no longer withstand your gestures of love. Set them free by declaring your love with #lovewithoutlocks."[9] With the high tourist season in full swing, more than 50% of the panels on the Pont des Arts had to be boarded over with plywood because the weight of the locks (estimated by the city to be 700 kg per panel) was creating the risk of more panels collapsing.[10]
On 18 September 2014, the City Hall of Paris replaced three panels of this bridge with a special glass as an experiment as they search for alternative materials for the bridge where locks cannot be attached.[11]
From 1 June 2015, city council workmen from Paris started to cut down all the locks after years of complaints from locals. Health and Safety officials said "the romantic gestures cause long term Heritage degradation and danger to visitors".[citation needed] As of 2015, over a million locks were placed, weighing approximately 45 tons.[12] Street artists like Jace, El Seed, Brusk or Pantonio have been chosen to paint the new panels that replaces the old railings with locks.[13]
Love padlocks on the bridge, view on the Louvre side
Location on the Seine
| Located near the Métro station: Pont Neuf. |
Popular culture
Due to its recognizable nature, the bridge has been featured in numerous films and television shows. Le Pont des Arts is a French film directed by Eugène Green, with Natacha Régnier and Denis Podalydès. The story is of a young man who falls in love with and finds the whole meaning of his life contained in a young woman who sings a baroque lament on record. He discovers she committed suicide from the Pont des Arts, so that is the only way he can be with her too. The action unrolls in Paris between 1979 and 1980, in other words it occurs during the collapsing of the bridge. The film was presented in 2004 at the 57th Locarno International Film Festival.The bridge has also been featured in the 2013 Hollywood heist adventure film Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier, where Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) is met by Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo). Alma takes a lock and a key that Dylan produces, putting the lock on a chain fence and throwing the key into the Seine.
Art historian Kenneth Clark wrote about the Pont des Arts in his book Civilisation:
I am standing on the Pont des Arts in Paris. On the one side of the Seine is the harmonious, reasonable façade of the Institute of France, built as a college in about 1670. On the other bank is the Louvre, built continuously from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century: classical architecture at its most splendid and assured. Just visible upstream is the Cathedral of Notre Dame --not perhaps the most lovable of cathedrals, but the most rigorously intellectual façade in the whole of Gothic art. [...]St. Germain released a song called 'Pont Des Arts' in 2002. Garden City Movement released a song by the same name.
What is civilisation? I do not know. I can't define it in abstract terms --yet. But I think I can recognise it when I see it: and I am looking at it now.
— Kenneth Clark, Civilisation (1969)
Statute at La Louvre - The Samothrace ;
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace,[2] is a marble Hellenistic sculpture of Nike (the Greek goddess of victory), that was created about the 2nd century BC. Since 1884, it has been prominently displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world. H.W. Janson described it as "the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture",[1] and it is one of a small number of major Hellenistic statues surviving in the original, rather than Roman copies.
Description
The context of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, discovered in 1863, is controversial, with proposals ranging from the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC as the event being celebrated. Datings based on stylistic evaluation have been equally variable, ranging across the same three centuries, but perhaps tending to an earlier date.[3] For much of the 20th century, the prevailing theory, based on the works of Hermann Thiersch and Karl Lehmann, considered it a Rhodian monument dedicated following the victories at Side and Myonessos in 190 BC, and suggested that it might have been carved by the Rhodian sculptor Pythocritus.[4] However, in recent years, the reconstructions of the monument proposed by Lehmann have been shown to be false (the remains of the surrounding space that housed the Victory belong to the Roman period), and the question of why the statue was dedicated on Samothrace, which at the time was a Macedonian possession, remains unanswered.[5]
The statue is 244 centimetres (8.01 ft) high.[6] It was created not only to honor the goddess, Nike, but also to honor a sea battle. It conveys a sense of action and triumph as well as portraying artful flowing drapery, as though the goddess were descending to alight upon the prow of a ship.
Modern excavations suggest that the Victory occupied a niche above a theater and also suggest it accompanied an altar that was within view of the ship monument of Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337–283 BC). Rendered in grey and white Thasian and Parian marble, the figure originally formed part of the Samothrace temple complex dedicated to the Great gods, Megaloi Theoi. It stood on a rostral pedestal of gray marble from Lartos representing the prow of a ship (most likely a trihemiolia), and represents the goddess as she descends from the skies to the triumphant fleet. Before she lost her arms, which have never been recovered, Nike's right arm is believed to have been raised,[7] cupped round her mouth to deliver the shout of Victory.[8] The work is notable for its convincing rendering of a pose where violent motion and sudden stillness meet, for its graceful balance and for the rendering of the figure's draped garments, compellingly depicted as if rippling in a strong sea breeze. Similar traits can be seen in the Laocoön group which is a reworked copy of a lost original that was likely close both in time and place of origin to Nike, but while Laocoon, vastly admired by Renaissance and classicist artists, has come to be seen[by whom?] as a more self-conscious and contrived work, Nike of Samothrace is seen as an iconic depiction of triumphant spirit and of the divine momentarily coming face to face with man.
External video Nike of Samothrace, Smarthistory.
The statue’s outstretched right wing is a symmetric plaster version of the original left one. The stylistic portrayal of the wings is a source of scholarly discussion, as the feather pattern resembles neither the wings of birds in nature nor wings in Greek art.[9] As with the arms, the figure's head has never been found, but various other fragments have since been found: in 1950, a team led by Karl Lehmann unearthed the missing right hand of the Louvre's Winged Victory. The fingerless hand had slid out of sight under a large rock, near where the statue had originally stood; on the return trip home, Dr Phyllis Williams Lehmann identified the tip of the Goddess's ring finger and her thumb in a storage drawer at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, where the second Winged Victory is displayed; the fragments have been reunited with the hand,[10] which is now in a glass case in the Louvre next to the podium on which the statue stands.
The different degree of finishing of the sides has led scholars to think that it was intended to be seen from three-quarters on the left.
A partial inscription on the base of the statue includes the word "Rhodios" (Rhodian), indicating that the statue was commissioned to celebrate a naval victory by Rhodes, at that time the most powerful maritime state in the Aegean which in itself would date the statue to 288 BC at the earliest.[citation needed]
History
The great statue was carefully lowered down a ramp in 1939 when it was removed from the Louvre and Paris for safekeeping.
The sculptor is unknown,[11] although Paul MacKendrick suggests that Pythokritos of Lindos is responsible.[12] When first discovered on the island of Samothrace (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and published in 1863, it was suggested that the Victory was erected by the Macedonian general Demetrius Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus, between 295 and 289 BC. The Archaeological Museum of Samothrace continues to follow these originally established provenance and dates.[13] Ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180.[14] Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong. The evidence for a Rhodian commission of the statue has been questioned, however, and the closest artistic parallel to the Nike of Samothrace are figures depicted on Macedonian coins.[15] Samothrace was an important sanctuary for the Hellenistic Macedonian kings. The most likely battle commemorated by this monument is, perhaps, the Battle of Cos in 255 BC, in which Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia won over the fleet of Ptolemy II of Egypt.[16]
In April 1863, the Victory was discovered by the then French consul in Adrianopolis and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau (1830-1909), who sent it to Paris in the same year. The statue has been reassembled in stages since its discovery. The prow was reconstructed from marble debris at the site by Champoiseau in 1879 and assembled in situ before being shipped to Paris.
After 1884, the statue was positioned where it would visually dominate the Daru staircase.[17] Since 1883, the marble figure has been displayed in the Louvre, while a plaster replica stands in the museum at the original location of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace.
In the autumn of 1939, the Winged Victory was removed from her perch in anticipation of the outbreak of World War II. All the museums of Paris were closed on August 25. Artwork and objects were packed for removal to locations deemed more safe outside Paris for safekeeping. On the night of September 3, the statue descended the staircase on a wooden ramp which was constructed across the steps.[18] During the years of World War II, the statue sheltered in safety in the Château de Valençay along with the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo's Slaves.[19]
The discovery in 1948 of the hand raised in salute, which matched a fragment in Vienna, established the modern reconstruction—without trumpet—of the hand raised in epiphanic greeting.
2013–14 restoration
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, side view.
In 2013 a restoration effort was launched to improve the appearance of the sculpture. This was the first detailed examination of the individual pieces of the sculpture to date. The restoration aimed to restore the marble to its original hue which had been tarnished by time. The sculpture was removed from its base and carried into an adjoining room which was transformed for the occasion into a restoration workshop. The base was dismantled block by block and placed in the workshop. Scientific reviews were performed on the base (UV, Infrared, X-ray, spectroscopy) prior to cleaning the surface of the marble. This effort aimed to respect the goals of the original restoration performed in 1883. The surface of the base was cleaned and then reassembled, and some gaps in the marble were repaired. Upon completion of the restoration, the statue was reunited with its base and returned to its prior position at the head of the Daru staircase in the Louvre.
Assessment, reception and influence
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, before restoration.
Despite its significant damage and incompleteness, the Victory is held to be one of the great surviving masterpieces of sculpture from the Hellenistic Period, and from the entire Greco-Roman era. The statue shows a mastery of form and movement which has impressed critics and artists since its discovery. It is considered one of the Louvre's greatest treasures, and since the late 19th century it has been displayed in the most dramatic fashion, at the head of the sweeping Daru staircase. The loss of the head, while regrettable in a sense, is held by many[by whom?] to enhance the statue's depiction of the supernatural.
The art historian H. W. Janson has pointed out[1] that unlike earlier Greek or Near Eastern sculptures, Nike creates a deliberate relationship to the imaginary space around the goddess. The wind that has carried her and which she is fighting off, straining to keep steady – as mentioned the original mounting had her standing on a ship's prow, just having landed – is the invisible complement of the figure and the viewer is made to imagine it. At the same time, this expanded space heightens the symbolic force of the work; the wind and the sea are suggested as metaphors of struggle, destiny and divine help or grace. This kind of interplay between a statue and the space conjured up would become a common device in baroque and romantic art, about two thousand years later. It is present in Michelangelo's sculpture of David: David's gaze and pose shows where he is seeing his adversary Goliath and his awareness of the moment – but it is rare in ancient art.
The Victory soon became a cultural icon to which artists responded in many different ways. For example, Abbott Handerson Thayer's A Virgin (1892–93) is a well-known painted allusion. When Filippo Tommaso Marinetti issued his Futurist Manifesto in 1909, he chose to contrast his movement with the supposedly defunct artistic sentiments of the Winged Victory: "a race-automobile which seems to rush over exploding powder is more beautiful than the 'Victory of Samothrace'".
The 1913 sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by the Futuristic sculptor Umberto Boccioni, currently located at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, was highly influenced by the statue. It bears an underlying resemblance to Nike of Samothrace.[20]
Campaign for repatriation
On February 3, 1999, according to the Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, "residents of the Aegean island of Samothrace, the birthplace of the renowned Greek sculpture Nike of Samothrace, aka the Winged Victory, embarked on a letter-writing campaign to have this finest extant of Hellenistic sculpture returned to their homeland. In a letter signed by the island's mayor, the locals urged Greek politicians to intervene and request that the Louvre museum, where the statue is kept, acknowledge that the sculpture belongs in its natural environment
The Mona Lisa Portrait
The Mona Lisa (/ˌmoʊnə ˈliːsə/; Italian: Monna Lisa [ˈmɔnna ˈliːza] or La Gioconda [la dʒoˈkonda], French: La Joconde [la ʒɔkɔ̃d]) is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world".[1] The Mona Lisa is also one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known insurance valuation in history at one hundred million dollars in 1962.[2]
The painting is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. It had been believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. Recent academic work suggests that it would not have been started before 1513.[3][4][5][6] It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic, on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris since 1797.[7]
The subject's expression, which is frequently described as enigmatic,[8] the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work.[9]
Title and subject
Main article: Lisa del Giocondo
The title of the painting, which is known in English as Mona Lisa, comes from a description by Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari, who wrote "Leonardo undertook to paint, for Francesco del Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife."[10][11] Mona in Italian is a polite form of address originating as "ma donna" – similar to "Ma’am", "Madam", or "my lady" in English. This became "madonna", and its contraction "mona". The title of the painting, though traditionally spelled "Mona" (as used by Vasari[10]), is also commonly spelled in modern Italian as Monna Lisa ("mona" being a vulgarity in some Italian dialects) but this is rare in English.[citation needed]
Vasari's account of the Mona Lisa comes from his biography of Leonardo published in 1550, 31 years after the artist's death. It has long been the best-known source of information on the provenance of the work and identity of the sitter. Leonardo's assistant Salaì, at his death in 1524, owned a portrait which in his personal papers was named la Gioconda, a painting bequeathed to him by Leonardo.
That Leonardo painted such a work, and its date, were confirmed in 2005 when a scholar at Heidelberg University discovered a marginal note in a 1477 printing of a volume written by the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero. Dated October 1503, the note was written by Leonardo's contemporary Agostino Vespucci. This note likens Leonardo to renowned Greek painter Apelles, who is mentioned in the text, and states that Leonardo was at that time working on a painting of Lisa del Giocondo.[12]
In response to the announcement of the discovery of this document, Vincent Delieuvin, the Louvre representative, stated "Leonardo da Vinci was painting, in 1503, the portrait of a Florentine lady by the name of Lisa del Giocondo. About this we are now certain. Unfortunately, we cannot be absolutely certain that this portrait of Lisa del Giocondo is the painting of the Louvre."[13]
A margin note by Agostino Vespucci (visible at right) discovered in a book at Heidelberg University. Dated 1503, it states that Leonardo was working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.
The model, Lisa del Giocondo,[14][15] was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany, and the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo.[16] The painting is thought to have been commissioned for their new home, and to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea.[17] The Italian name for the painting, La Gioconda, means "jocund" ("happy" or "jovial") or, literally, "the jocund one", a pun on the feminine form of Lisa's married name, "Giocondo".[16][18] In French, the title La Joconde has the same meaning.
Before that discovery, scholars had developed several alternative views as to the subject of the painting. Some argued that Lisa del Giocondo was the subject of a different portrait, identifying at least four other paintings as the Mona Lisa referred to by Vasari.[19][20] Several other women have been proposed as the subject of the painting.[21] Isabella of Aragon,[22] Cecilia Gallerani,[23] Costanza d'Avalos, Duchess of Francavilla,[21] Isabella d'Este, Pacifica Brandano or Brandino, Isabela Gualanda, Caterina Sforza—even Salaì and Leonardo himself—are all among the list of posited models portrayed in the painting.[24][25] The consensus of art historians in the 21st century maintains the long-held traditional opinion, that the painting depicts Lisa del Giocondo.[12]
History
Main article: Leonardo da Vinci
Presumed self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, executed in red chalk sometime between 1512 and 1515
Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy.[26] Although the Louvre states that it was "doubtless painted between 1503 and 1506",[9] the art historian Martin Kemp says there are some difficulties in confirming the actual dates with certainty.[16] In addition, many Leonardo experts, such as Carlo Pedretti [3] and Alessandro Vezzosi[4] are of the opinion that the painting is characteristic of Leonardo’s style in the final years of his life, post-1513. Other academics argue that, given the historical documentation, Leonardo would have painted the work from 1513.[6] According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished".[11] Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work".[27]
Raphael's drawing, based on the portrait of Mona Lisa
Circa 1504, Raphael executed a pen and ink sketch, today in the Louvre museum, in which the subject is flanked by large columns,. Experts universally agree it is based on Leonardo’s portrait of Mona Lisa.[28][29][5][30] Other later copies of the Mona Lisa, such as that in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, and The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore also display large flanking columns. As a result, it was originally thought that the Mona Lisa in the Louvre had side columns and had been cut.[31][32][3][33][34] However, as early as 1993, Zöllner observed that the painting surface had never been trimmed.[35] This was confirmed through a series of tests conducted in 2004.[36] In view of this, Vincent Delieuvin, curator of 16th century Italian painting at the Louvre museum states that the sketch and these other copies must have been inspired by another version,[37] while Frank Zöllner states that the sketch brings up the possibility that Leonardo executed another work on the subject of Mona Lisa.[35]
It is unclear as to who commissioned the painting. Giorgio Vasari states that the work was painted for Francesco del Giocondo, the husband of Lisa del Giocondo.[38] However, Antonio de Beatis, following a visit with Leonardo in 1517, records that the painting was executed at the instance of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici.[39]
In 1516, Leonardo was invited by King François I to work at the Clos Lucé near the king's castle in Amboise. It is believed that he took the Mona Lisa with him and continued to work after he moved to France.[24] Art historian Carmen C. Bambach has concluded that Leonardo probably continued refining the work until 1516 or 1517.[40]
The fate of the painting around Leonardo’s death and just after it has divided academic opinion. Some, such as Kemp, believe that upon Leonardo’s death, the painting was inherited with other works by his pupil and assistant Salaì and was still in the latter’s possession in 1525.[16][41] Others believe that the painting was sold to Francis I by Salaì, together with The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the St. John the Baptist in 1518.[42] The Louvre Museum lists the painting as having entered the Royal collection in 1518.[43]
Given the issue surrounding the dating of the painting, the presence of the flanking columns in the Raphael sketch, the uncertainty concerning the person who commissioned it and its fate around the time of Leonardo’s death, a number of experts have argued that Leonardo painted two versions of the Mona Lisa.[30][5][44] The first would have been commissioned by Francesco del Giocondo circa 1503, had flanking columns, have been left unfinished and have been in Salai’s possession in 1525. The second, commissioned by Giuliano de Medici circa 1513, without the flanking columns, would have been sold by Salai to Francis I in 1518 and be the one in the Louvre today. [30][5][44]
The painting was kept at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where it remained until Louis XIV moved the painting to the Palace of Versailles. After the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre, but spent a brief period in the bedroom of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace.
During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) it was moved from the Louvre to the Brest Arsenal.[45] During World War II, the painting was again removed from the Louvre and taken safely, first to Château d'Amboise, then to the Loc-Dieu Abbey and Château de Chambord, then finally to the Ingres Museum in Montauban.
In December 2015, it was reported that French scientist Pascal Cotte had found a hidden portrait underneath the surface of the painting using reflective light technology.[46] The portrait is an underlying image of a model looking off to the side.[47] Having been given access to the painting by Louvre in 2004, Cotte spent ten years using layer amplification methods to study the painting.[46] According to Cotte, the underlying image is Leonardo's original Mona Lisa.[46][48]
However, this portrait does not fit with the description of the painting in the historical records: Both Giorgio Vasari [10] and Gian Paolo Lomazzo[49] describe the subject as smiling; the subject in Cotte’s portrait displays no smile. In addition, the portrait lacks the flanking columns drawn by Raphael in his c.1504 sketch of Mona Lisa. Moreover, Cotte admits that his reconstitution had been carried out only in support of his hypotheses and should not be considered a real painting; he stresses that the images never existed.[50] Kemp is also adamant that Cotte’s images in no way establish the existence of a separate underlying portrait.[41]
Theft and vandalism
"La Joconde est Retrouvée" ("Mona Lisa is Found"), Le Petit Parisien, 13 December 1913
Vacant wall in the Salon Carré, Louvre after the painting was stolen in 1911
On 21 August 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre.[51] The theft was not discovered until the next day, when painter Louis Béroud walked into the museum and went to the Salon Carré where the Mona Lisa had been on display for five years, only to find four iron pegs on the wall. Béroud contacted the head of the guards, who thought the painting was being photographed for promotional purposes. A few hours later, Béroud checked back with the Section Chief of the Louvre who confirmed that the Mona Lisa was not with the photographers. The Louvre was closed for an entire week during the investigation.
The Mona Lisa on display in the Uffizi Gallery, in Florence, 1913. Museum director Giovanni Poggi (right) inspects the painting.
French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down", came under suspicion and was arrested and imprisoned. Apollinaire implicated his friend Pablo Picasso, who was brought in for questioning. Both were later exonerated.[52][53] Two years later the thief revealed himself. Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia had stolen the Mona Lisa by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet, and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed.[18] Peruggia was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo's painting should have been returned for display in an Italian museum.
Peruggia may have been motivated by an associate whose copies of the original would significantly rise in value after the painting's theft. A later account suggested Eduardo de Valfierno had been the mastermind of the theft and had commissioned forger Yves Chaudron to create six copies of the painting to sell in the U.S. while the location of the original was unclear.[54] However, the original painting remained in Europe. After having kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it to directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery for over two weeks and returned to the Louvre on 4 January 1914.[55] Peruggia served six months in prison for the crime and was hailed for his patriotism in Italy.[53] Before its theft, the Mona Lisa was not widely known outside the art world. It was not until the 1860s that some critics, a thin slice of the French intelligentsia, began to hail it as a masterwork of Renaissance painting.[56]
In 1956, part of the painting was damaged when a vandal threw acid at it.[57] On 30 December of that year, a rock was thrown at the painting, dislodging a speck of pigment near the left elbow, later restored.[58]
The use of bulletproof glass has shielded the Mona Lisa from subsequent attacks. In April 1974, a woman, upset by the museum's policy for disabled people, sprayed red paint at it while it was being displayed at the Tokyo National Museum.[59] On 2 August 2009, a Russian woman, distraught over being denied French citizenship, threw a ceramic teacup purchased at the Louvre; the vessel shattered against the glass enclosure.[60][61] In both cases, the painting was undamaged.
Aesthetics
Detail of the background (right side)
The Mona Lisa bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary, who was at that time seen as an ideal for womanhood.[62]
The depiction of the sitter in three-quarter profile is similar to late 15th-century works by Lorenzo di Credi and Agnolo di Domenico del Mazziere.[62] Zöllner notes that the sitter's general position can be traced back to Flemish models and that "in particular the vertical slices of columns at both sides of the panel had precedents in Flemish portraiture."[63] Woods-Marsden cites Hans Memling's portrait of Benededetto Portinari (1487) or Italian imitations such as Sebastiano Mainardi's pendant portraits for the use of a loggia, which has the effect of mediating between the sitter and the distant landscape, a feature missing from Leonardo's earlier portrait of Ginevra de' Benci.[64]
The woman sits markedly upright in a "pozzetto" armchair with her arms folded, a sign of her reserved posture. Her gaze is fixed on the observer. The woman appears alive to an unusual extent, which Leonardo achieved by his method of not drawing outlines (sfumato). The soft blending creates an ambiguous mood "mainly in two features: the corners of the mouth, and the corners of the eyes".[65]
Detail of Lisa's hands, her right hand resting on her left. Leonardo chose this gesture rather than a wedding ring to depict Lisa as a virtuous woman and faithful wife.[66]
The painting was one of the first portraits to depict the sitter in front of an imaginary landscape, and Leonardo was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective.[67] The enigmatic woman is portrayed seated in what appears to be an open loggia with dark pillar bases on either side. Behind her, a vast landscape recedes to icy mountains. Winding paths and a distant bridge give only the slightest indications of human presence. Leonardo has chosen to place the horizon line not at the neck, as he did with Ginevra de' Benci, but on a level with the eyes, thus linking the figure with the landscape and emphasizing the mysterious nature of the painting.[64]
Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes. Some researchers claim that it was common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered unsightly.[68][69] In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans of the painting provide evidence that Mona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and with visible eyebrows, but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of overcleaning.[70] Cotte discovered the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made to the size of the Mona Lisa's face and the direction of her gaze. He also found that in one layer the subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was later scrubbed out and overpainted.[71]
There has been much speculation regarding the painting's model and landscape. For example, Leonardo probably painted his model faithfully since her beauty is not seen as being among the best, "even when measured by late quattrocento (15th century) or even twenty-first century standards."[72] Some art historians in Eastern art, such as Yukio Yashiro, argue that the landscape in the background of the picture was influenced by Chinese paintings,[73] but this thesis has been contested for lack of clear evidence.[73]
Research in 2003 by Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University said that Mona Lisa's smile disappears when looked with direct vision, known as foveal, because of the way the human eye processes visual information it is less suited to pick up shadows directly, however peripheral vision can pick up shadows well.[74]
Research in 2008 by a geomorphology professor at Urbino University and an artist-photographer revealed likenesses of Mona Lisa's landscapes to some views in the Montefeltro region in the Italian provinces of Pesaro, Urbino and Rimini.[75][76]
Conservation
The Mona Lisa has survived for more than 500 years, and an international commission convened in 1952 noted that "the picture is in a remarkable state of preservation."[36] This is partly due to a variety of conservation treatments the painting has undergone. A detailed analysis in 1933 by Madame de Gironde revealed that earlier restorers had "acted with a great deal of restraint."[36] Nevertheless, applications of varnish made to the painting had darkened even by the end of the 16th century, and an aggressive 1809 cleaning and revarnishing removed some of the uppermost portion of the paint layer, resulting in a washed-out appearance to the face of the figure. Despite the treatments, the Mona Lisa has been well cared for throughout its history, and although the panel's warping caused the curators "some worry",[77] the 2004–05 conservation team was optimistic about the future of the work.[36]
Poplar panel
At some point, the Mona Lisa was removed from its original frame. The unconstrained poplar panel warped freely with changes in humidity, and as a result, a crack developed near the top of the panel, extending down to the hairline of the figure. In the mid-18th century to early 19th century, two butterfly-shaped walnut braces were inserted into the back of the panel to a depth of about one third the thickness of the panel. This intervention was skilfully executed, and successfully stabilized the crack. Sometime between 1888 and 1905, or perhaps during the picture's theft, the upper brace fell out. A later restorer glued and lined the resulting socket and crack with cloth.[citation needed]
The picture is kept under strict, climate-controlled conditions in its bulletproof glass case. The humidity is maintained at 50% ±10%, and the temperature is maintained between 18 and 21 °C. To compensate for fluctuations in relative humidity, the case is supplemented with a bed of silica gel treated to provide 55% relative humidity.[36]
Frame
Because the Mona Lisa's poplar support expands and contracts with changes in humidity, the picture has experienced some warping. In response to warping and swelling experienced during its storage during World War II, and to prepare the picture for an exhibit to honour the anniversary of Leonardo's 500th birthday, the Mona Lisa was fitted in 1951 with a flexible oak frame with beech crosspieces. This flexible frame, which is used in addition to the decorative frame described below, exerts pressure on the panel to keep it from warping further. In 1970, the beech crosspieces were switched to maple after it was found that the beechwood had been infested with insects. In 2004–05, a conservation and study team replaced the maple crosspieces with sycamore ones, and an additional metal crosspiece was added for scientific measurement of the panel's warp.[citation needed]
The Mona Lisa has had many different decorative frames in its history, owing to changes in taste over the centuries. In 1909, the Comtesse de Béhague gave the portrait its current frame,[78] a Renaissance-era work consistent with the historical period of the Mona Lisa. The edges of the painting have been trimmed at least once in its history to fit the picture into various frames, but no part of the original paint layer has been trimmed.[36]
Cleaning and touch-up
The first and most extensive recorded cleaning, revarnishing, and touch-up of the Mona Lisa was an 1809 wash and revarnishing undertaken by Jean-Marie Hooghstoel, who was responsible for restoration of paintings for the galleries of the Musée Napoléon. The work involved cleaning with spirits, touch-up of colour, and revarnishing the painting. In 1906, Louvre restorer Eugène Denizard performed watercolour retouches on areas of the paint layer disturbed by the crack in the panel. Denizard also retouched the edges of the picture with varnish, to mask areas that had been covered initially by an older frame. In 1913, when the painting was recovered after its theft, Denizard was again called upon to work on the Mona Lisa. Denizard was directed to clean the picture without solvent, and to lightly touch up several scratches to the painting with watercolour. In 1952, the varnish layer over the background in the painting was evened out. After the second 1956 attack, restorer Jean-Gabriel Goulinat was directed to touch up the damage to Mona Lisa's left elbow with watercolour.[36]
In 1977, a new insect infestation was discovered in the back of the panel as a result of crosspieces installed to keep the painting from warping. This was treated on the spot with carbon tetrachloride, and later with an ethylene oxide treatment. In 1985, the spot was again treated with carbon tetrachloride as a preventive measure.[36]
Display
Mona Lisa behind bulletproof glass at the Louvre Museum
On 6 April 2005—following a period of curatorial maintenance, recording, and analysis—the painting was moved to a new location within the museum's Salle des États. It is displayed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure behind bulletproof glass.[79] Since 2005 the painting has been illuminated by an LED lamp, and in 2013 a new 20 watt LED lamp was installed, specially designed for this painting. The lamp has a colour rendering index up to 98, and minimizes infrared and ultraviolet radiation which could otherwise degrade the painting.[80] The renovation of the gallery where the painting now resides was financed by the Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television.[81] About 6 million people view the painting at the Louvre each year.[24]
Fame
2014: Mona Lisa is among the greatest attractions in the Louvre.
Today the Mona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world, but until the 20th century it was simply one among many highly regarded artworks.[82] Once part of King Francis I of France's collection, the Mona Lisa was among the very first artworks to be exhibited in Louvre, which became a national museum after the French Revolution. From the 19th century Leonardo began to be revered as a genius and the painting's popularity grew from the mid-19th century when French intelligentsia developed a theme that it was somehow mysterious and a representation of the femme fatal.[83] The Baedeker guide in 1878 called it "the most celebrated work of Leonardo in the Louvre",[84] but the painting was known more by the intelligentsia than the general public.[citation needed]
US President John F. Kennedy, Madeleine Malraux, André Malraux, Jacqueline Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson at the unveiling of the Mona Lisa at the National Gallery of Art during its visit to Washington D.C., 8 January 1963
The 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa and its subsequent return, however, was reported worldwide, leading to a massive increase in public recognition of the painting. During the 20th century it was an object for mass reproduction, merchandising, lampooning and speculation, and was claimed to have been reproduced in "300 paintings and 2,000 advertisements".[84] It has been said that the Mona Lisa was regarded as "just another Leonardo until early last century, when the scandal of the painting's theft from the Louvre and subsequent return kept a spotlight on it over several years."[85]
From December 1962 to March 1963, the French government lent it to the United States to be displayed in New York City and Washington, D.C.[86] It was shipped on the new liner SS France. In New York an estimated 1.7 million people queued "in order to cast a glance at the Mona Lisa for 20 seconds or so."[84] In 1974, the painting was exhibited in Tokyo and Moscow.[87]
In 2014, 9.3 million people visited the Louvre,[88] Former director Henri Loyrette reckoned that "80 percent of the people only want to see the Mona Lisa."[89]
Financial worth
Before the 1962–63 tour, the painting was assessed for insurance at $100 million. The insurance was not bought. Instead, more was spent on security.[90] Adjusted for inflation using the US Consumer Price Index, $100 million in 1962 is around $782 million in 2015[91] making it, in practice, by far the most valued painting in the world.
In 2014 a France 24 article suggested that the painting could be sold to help ease the national debt, although it was noted that the Mona Lisa and other such art works were prohibited from being sold due to French heritage law, which states that "Collections held in museums that belong to public bodies are considered public property and cannot be otherwise."[92]
Raphael's Young Woman with Unicorn, (c. 1506)
Raphael's Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–15)
Le rire (The Laugh) by Eugène Bataille, or Sapeck (1883)
L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp (1919)
Legacy
See also: Mona Lisa replicas and reinterpretations
Before its completion the Mona Lisa had already begun to influence contemporary Florentine painting. Raphael, who had been to Leonardo's workshop several times, promptly used elements of the portrait's composition and format in several of his works, such as Young Woman with Unicorn (c. 1506[93]), and Portrait of Maddalena Doni (c. 1506). Celebrated later paintings by Raphael, La velata (1515–16) and Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (c. 1514–15), continued to borrow from Leonardo's painting. Zollner states that "None of Leonardo's works would exert more influence upon the evolution of the genre than the Mona Lisa. It became the definitive example of the Renaissance portrait and perhaps for this reason is seen not just as the likeness of a real person, but also as the embodiment of an ideal."[94]
Early commentators such as Vasari and André Félibien praised the picture for its realism, but by the Victorian era writers began to regard the Mona Lisa as imbued with a sense of mystery and romance. In 1859 Théophile Gautier wrote that the Mona Lisa was a "sphinx of beauty who smiles so mysteriously" and that "Beneath the form expressed one feels a thought that is vague, infinite, inexpressible. One is moved, troubled ... repressed desires, hopes that drive one to despair, stir painfully." Walter Pater's famous essay of 1869 described the sitter as "older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in the deep seas, and keeps their fallen day about her."[95] By the early 20th century some critics started to feel the painting had become a repository for subjective exegeses and theories,[96] and upon the painting's theft in 1911, Renaissance historian Bernard Berenson admitted that it had "simply become an incubus, and I was glad to be rid of her."[96][97]
The avant-garde art world has made note of the undeniable fact of the Mona Lisa's popularity. Because of the painting's overwhelming stature, Dadaists and Surrealists often produce modifications and caricatures. Already in 1883, Le rire, an image of a Mona Lisa smoking a pipe, by Sapeck (Eugène Bataille), was shown at the "Incoherents" show in Paris. In 1919, Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential modern artists, created L.H.O.O.Q., a Mona Lisa parody made by adorning a cheap reproduction with a moustache and goatee. Duchamp added an inscription, which when read out loud in French sounds like "Elle a chaud au cul" meaning: "she has a hot ass", implying the woman in the painting is in a state of sexual excitement and intended as a Freudian joke.[98] According to Rhonda R. Shearer, the apparent reproduction is in fact a copy partly modelled on Duchamp's own face.[99]
Salvador Dalí, famous for his surrealist work, painted Self portrait as Mona Lisa in 1954.[100] In 1963 following the painting's visit to the United States, Andy Warhol created serigraph prints of multiple Mona Lisas called Thirty are Better than One, like his works of Marilyn Monroe (Twenty-five Coloured Marilyns, 1962), Elvis Presley (1964) and Campbell's soup (1961–62).[101] The Mona Lisa continues to inspire artists around the world. A French urban artist known pseudonymously as Invader has created versions on city walls in Paris and Tokyo using his trademark mosaic style.[102] A collection of Mona Lisa parodies may be found on YouTube.[103] A 2014 New Yorker magazine cartoon parodies the supposed enigma of the Mona Lisa smile in an animation showing progressively maniacal smiles.
Early versions and copies
Perspective Mona Lisa to the Prado museum
Perspective Mona Lisa to the Louvre museum
Prado Museum La Gioconda
Main article: Mona Lisa (Prado's version)
A version of Mona Lisa known as Mujer de mano de Leonardo Abince ("Leonardo da Vinci's handy-woman") held in Madrid's Museo del Prado was for centuries considered to be a work by Leonardo. However, since its restoration in 2012 it is considered to have been executed by one of Leonardo's pupils in his studio at the same time as Mona Lisa was being painted.[104] Their conclusion, based on analysis obtained after the picture underwent extensive restoration, that the painting is probably by Salaì (1480–1524) or by Melzi (1493–1572). This has been called into question by others.[105]
The restored painting is from a slightly different perspective than the original Mona Lisa, leading to the speculation that it is part of the world's first stereoscopic pair.[106][107][108] However, a more recent report has demonstrated that this stereoscopic pair in fact gives no reliable stereoscopic depth.[109]
Isleworth Mona Lisa
Main article: Isleworth Mona Lisa
A version of the Mona Lisa known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa and also known as the Earlier Mona Lisa was first bought by an English nobleman in 1778 and was rediscovered in 1913 by Hugh Blaker, an art connoisseur. The painting was presented to the media in 2012 by the Mona Lisa Foundation.[110] It is a painting of the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The painting is claimed by a majority of experts to be mostly an original work of Leonardo dating from the early 16th century: a survey of all published opinions shows that 22 experts are certain that the major parts of the Isleworth Mona Lisa are the work of Leonardo da Vinci,[111][28][112][113][114][115][116][30][117][5][6][44] while only four, including Zöllner and Kemp, deny the attribution,[118] but they have never seen the painting
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The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower
Wikipedia
The Eiffel Tower (/ˈaɪfəl ˈtaʊ.ər/ EYE-fəl TOW-ər; French: tour Eiffel, pronounced [tuʁ‿ɛfɛl] About this sound listen) is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Constructed from 1887–89 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.[3] The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
The tower is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second-tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.
History
Origin
The design of the Eiffel Tower was the product of Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel, after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.[4] In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals".[5] Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.
First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin including size comparison with other Parisian landmarks such as Notre Dame de Paris, the Statue of Liberty and the Vendôme Column
The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying the tower would symbolise,
Not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude.[6]
Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on 1 May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition, which effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars.[6] (A 300-meter tower was then considered a herculean engineering effort). On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.
After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the next 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.[7]
Artists' protest
Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids
The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the arts, such as Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Charles Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887:
We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal.[8]
A calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire
Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids: "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?"[9] These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying,[10] "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and he explained that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way.
Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"[11]
Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced.[12] Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.[13]
By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany.[14] Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in films and literature.
Construction
Foundations of the Eiffel Tower
Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887.[15] Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[16] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.
Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and the erection of the ironwork began. The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed.[17] The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.[15]
At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level, construction was paused in order to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press.[18] At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888.[15] Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and the legs were intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees,[15] only one person died thanks to Eiffel's stringent safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens.
The start of the erection of the metalwork.
7 December 1887: Construction of the legs with scaffolding.
20 March 1888: Completion of the first level.
15 May 1888: Start of construction on the second stage.
21 August 1888: Completion of the second level.
26 December 1888: Construction of the upper stage.
15 March 1889: Construction of the cupola.
Lifts
The Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape lifts during construction. Note the drive sprockets and chain in the foreground
Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.[19]
Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.[20] Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above: to prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) diameter sprockets. Smaller sprockets at the top guided the chains.[20]
The Otis lifts originally fitted in the north and south legs
Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower. The deadline for bids was extended but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887.[21] Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract and had already started creating designs.
The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m (41 ft 7 in) long and 96.5 cm (38.0 in) in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m (35 ft 6 in): this moved a carriage carrying six sheaves. Five fixed sheaves were mounted higher up the leg, producing an arrangement similar to a block and tackle but acting in reverse, multiplying the stroke of the piston rather than the force generated. The hydraulic pressure in the driving cylinder was produced by a large open reservoir on the second level. After being exhausted from the cylinder, the water was pumped back up to the reservoir by two pumps in the machinery room at the base of the south leg. This reservoir also provided power to the lifts to the first level.
The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m (266 ft) hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.[22]
Inauguration and the 1889 exposition
General view of the Exposition Universelle
The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.[12] Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.[23]
There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on 6 May; even then, the lifts had not been completed. The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May.[24] Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays,[25] and by the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.[3]
After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.
Illumination of the tower at night during the exposition
On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.
At the top, there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").[26]
Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison.[24] Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition.[27] Edison signed the guestbook with this message:
To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.
Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit.
Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.[28]
Subsequent events
File:Vue Lumière No 992 - Panorama pendant l'ascension de la Tour Eiffel (1898).ogvPlay media
Panoramic view during ascent of the Eiffel Tower by the Lumière brothers, 1898
File:Reichelt.ogvPlay media
Franz Reichelt's preparations and jump from the Eiffel Tower
For the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the lifts in the east and west legs were replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. These had a compensating mechanism to keep the floor level as the angle of ascent changed at the first level, and were driven by a similar hydraulic mechanism to the Otis lifts, although this was situated at the base of the tower. Hydraulic pressure was provided by pressurised accumulators located near this mechanism.[21] At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed and replaced by a staircase to the first level. The layout of both first and second levels was modified, with the space available for visitors on the second level. The original lift in the south pillar was removed 13 years later.
On 19 October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.[29]
Many innovations took place at the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th century. In 1910, Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays.[30] Just two years later, on 4 February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 metres) to demonstrate his parachute design.[31] In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.[32] From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.[citation needed] In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a shortwave transmitter of 200 watts power. On 17 November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.[33]
On two separate but related occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal.[34] A year later, in February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station.[35] A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on 2 May 1929.[36] In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed.[37] In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.[38]
American soldiers watch the French flag flying on the Eiffel Tower, c. 25 August 1944
Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946.[39] In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge,[40] but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one.[41] When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.[42] On 25 June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.[39]
A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top.[43] In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux.[44] A year later, an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar.[45]
According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.[46]
Base of the Eiffel Tower
In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.[citation needed] The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system, and the original water hydraulics were retained solely as a counterbalance system.[45] A service lift was added to the south pillar for moving small loads and maintenance personnel three years later.
Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984.[47] In 1987, A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police.[48] On 27 October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower.[49] Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch between figures to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.[citation needed]
The tower is the focal point of New Year's Eve and Bastille Day (14 July) celebrations in Paris.
For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on 31 December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. Fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.[50]
The lights sparkled blue for several nights to herald the new millennium On 31 December 2000. The sparkly lighting continued for 18 months until July 2001. The sparkling lights were turned on again on 21 June 2003, and the display was planned to last for 10 years before they needed replacing.[51]
The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on 28 November 2002.[52] The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors since 2003.[53] In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level.[54] A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.[55]
Design
Material
The Eiffel Tower from below
The puddled iron (wrought iron) of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons,[56] and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tons.[57] As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tons of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm (2.46 in) assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tons per cubic metre.[58] Additionally, a cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m x 125 m x 125 m) would contain 6,200 tons of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.[59]
Wind considerations
When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on 14 February 1887, Eiffel said:
Is it not true that the very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony? … Now to what phenomenon did I have to give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be … will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[60]
He used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. Close examination of the tower reveals a basically exponential shape.[61] All parts of the tower were over-designed to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework.[62] In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.[61]
The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in the wind.[63]
Accommodation
Gustave Eiffel's apartment
When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants—one French, one Russian and one Flemish—and an "Anglo-American Bar". After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. A promenade 2.6-metre (8 ft 6 in) wide ran around the outside of the first level. At the top, there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.[64]
In May 2016, an apartment was created on the first level to accommodate four competition winners during the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament in Paris in June. The apartment has a kitchen, two bedrooms, a lounge, and views of Paris landmarks including the Seine, the Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe.[65]
Passenger lifts
The arrangement of the lifts has been changed several times during the tower's history. Given the elasticity of the cables and the time taken to align the cars with the landings, each lift, in normal service, takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each level. The average journey time between levels is 1 minute. The original hydraulic mechanism is on public display in a small museum at the base of the east and west legs. Because the mechanism requires frequent lubrication and maintenance, public access is often restricted. The rope mechanism of the north tower can be seen as visitors exit the lift.[citation needed]
Engraved names
Main article: List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower
Names engraved on the tower
Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company operating the tower.[66]
Aesthetics
The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to perfectly complement the Parisian sky.[67] It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown".[68]
The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.[69]
One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.[citation needed]
Maintenance
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.[51]
Panorama of Paris from the Tour Eiffel
Panorama of Paris and its suburbs from the top of the Eiffel Tower
Tourism
Transport
The nearest Paris Métro station is Bir-Hakeim and the nearest RER station is Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel.[70] The tower itself is located at the intersection of the quai Branly and the Pont d'Iéna.
Popularity
Number of visitors per year between 1889 and 2004
More than 250 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889.[3] In 2015, there were 6.91 million visitors.[71] The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.[72] An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day which can result in long queues.[73] Tickets can be purchased online to avoid the long queues.
Restaurants
The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level, and Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift on the second level. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. It is run by the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse[74] and owes its name to the famous science-fiction writer Jules Verne. Additionally, there is a champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Replicas
Replica at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Nevada, United States
Main article: List of Eiffel Tower replicas
As one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers. An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894 and is 158.1 metres (518 ft) tall.[75] Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.[76]
There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada, one in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively. Two 1:3 scale models can be found in China, one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community, and several across Europe.[77]
In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build.[78]
Communications
Top of the Eiffel Tower
The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th century. Until the 1950s, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers. In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today. On 20 November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C.[79] Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.
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Notre Dame and Joan d'Ark
Joan of Ark Statue inside Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Wikipedia
Notre-Dame de Paris (French: [nɔtʁə dam də paʁi] (
listen); meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France.[3] The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and it is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass serve to contrast it with earlier Romanesque architecture.As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris, currently Cardinal André Vingt-Trois.[4] The cathedral treasury contains a reliquary, which houses some of Catholicism's most important relics, including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and one of the Holy Nails.
In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration in the radical phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845. A project of further restoration and maintenance began in 1991.
Architecture
The western facade illuminated at night
The spire and east side of the cathedral
The north rose window is a fine example of Gothic Rayonnant style.
Many small individually crafted statues were placed around the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles, designed for water run-off, and chimeras. The statues were originally colored as was most of the exterior. The paint has worn off. The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345. The cathedral has a narrow climb of 387 steps at the top of several spiral staircases; along the climb it is possible to view its most famous bell and its gargoyles in close quarters, as well as having a spectacular view across Paris when reaching the top.
Contemporary critical reception
John of Jandun recognized the cathedral as one of Paris's three most important buildings [prominent structures] in his 1323 Treatise on the Praises of Paris:| “ | That most glorious church of the most glorious Virgin Mary, mother of God, deservedly shines out, like the sun among stars. And although some speakers, by their own free judgment, because [they are] able to see only a few things easily, may say that some other is more beautiful, I believe however, respectfully, that, if they attend more diligently to the whole and the parts, they will quickly retract this opinion. Where indeed, I ask, would they find two towers of such magnificence and perfection, so high, so large, so strong, clothed round about with such a multiple variety of ornaments? Where, I ask, would they find such a multipartite arrangement of so many lateral vaults, above and below? Where, I ask, would they find such light-filled amenities as the many surrounding chapels? Furthermore, let them tell me in what church I may see such a large cross, of which one arm separates the choir from the nave. Finally, I would willingly learn where [there are] two such circles, situated opposite each other in a straight line, which on account of their appearance are given the name of the fourth vowel [O] ; among which smaller orbs and circlets, with wondrous artifice, so that some arranged circularly, others angularly, surround windows ruddy with precious colors and beautiful with the most subtle figures of the pictures. In fact I believe that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul. | ” |
| — Jean de Jandun, Tractatus de laudibus Parisius[5] | ||
Construction history
In 1160, because the church in Paris had become the "Parish church of the kings of Europe", Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the previous Paris cathedral, Saint-Étienne (St Stephen's), which had been founded in the 4th century, unworthy of its lofty role, and had it demolished shortly after he assumed the title of Bishop of Paris. As with most foundation myths, this account needs to be taken with a grain of salt; archeological excavations in the 20th century suggested that the Merovingian cathedral replaced by Sully was itself a massive structure, with a five-aisled nave and a façade some 36m across. It is possible therefore that the faults with the previous structure were exaggerated by the Bishop to help justify the rebuilding in a newer style. According to legend, Sully had a vision of a glorious new cathedral for Paris, and sketched it on the ground outside the original church.To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral. Construction began in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII, and opinion differs as to whether Sully or Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. However, both were at the ceremony. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life and wealth to the cathedral's construction. Construction of the choir took from 1163 until around 1177 and the new High Altar was consecrated in 1182 (it was normal practice for the eastern end of a new church to be completed first, so that a temporary wall could be erected at the west of the choir, allowing the chapter to use it without interruption while the rest of the building slowly took shape). After Bishop Maurice de Sully's death in 1196, his successor, Eudes de Sully (no relation) oversaw the completion of the transepts and pressed ahead with the nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his own death in 1208. By this stage, the western facade had also been laid out, though it was not completed until around the mid-1240s.[6]
Numerous architects worked on the site over the period of construction, which is evident from the differing styles at different heights of the west front and towers.[citation needed] Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls beneath the towers.
The most significant change in design came in the mid 13th century, when the transepts were remodeled in the latest Rayonnant style; in the late 1240s Jean de Chelles added a gabled portal to the north transept topped off by a spectacular rose window. Shortly afterwards (from 1258) Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the southern transept. Both these transept portals were richly embellished with sculpture; the south portal features scenes from the lives of St Stephen and of various local saints, while the north portal featured the infancy of Christ and the story of Theophilus in the tympanum, with a highly influential statue of the Virgin and Child in the trumeau.[7]
Timeline of construction
- 1160 Maurice de Sully (named Bishop of Paris) orders the original cathedral demolished.
- 1163 Cornerstone laid for Notre-Dame de Paris; construction begins.
- 1182 Apse and choir completed.
- 1196 Bishop Maurice de Sully dies.
- c.1200 Work begins on western facade.
- 1208 Bishop Eudes de Sully dies. Nave vaults nearing completion.
- 1225 Western facade completed.
- 1250 Western towers and north rose window completed.
- c.1245–1260s Transepts remodelled in the Rayonnant style by Jean de Chelles then Pierre de Montreuil
- 1250–1345 Remaining elements completed.
Crypt
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The Archaeological Crypt of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Alterations, vandalism, and restorations
In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged features of Notre-Dame, considering them idolatrous.[9] During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the cathedral underwent major alterations as part of an ongoing attempt to modernize cathedrals throughout Europe. A colossal statue of St Christopher, standing against a pillar near the western entrance and dating from 1413, was destroyed in 1786. Tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed. The north and south rose windows were spared this fate, however.
A controversial restoration programme was initiated in 1845, overseen by architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Viollet Le Duc was responsible for the restorations of several dozen castles, palaces and cathedrals across France. The restoration lasted twenty five years[9] and included a taller and more ornate reconstruction of the flèche (a type of spire),[10] as well as the addition of the chimeras on the Galerie des Chimères. Viollet le Duc always signed his work with a bat, the wing structure of which most resembles the Gothic vault (see Château de Roquetaillade).
The Second World War caused more damage. Several of the stained glass windows on the lower tier were hit by stray bullets. These were remade after the war, but now sport a modern geometrical pattern, not the old scenes of the Bible.
In 1991, a major programme of maintenance and restoration was initiated, which was intended to last ten years, but was still in progress as of 2010,[9] the cleaning and restoration of old sculptures being an exceedingly delicate matter. Circa 2014, much of the lighting was upgraded to LED lighting.[13]
Organ and organists
The organ of Notre-Dame de Paris
The position of titular organist ("head" or "chief" organist; French: titulaires des grands orgues) at Notre-Dame is considered one of the most prestigious organist posts in France, along with the post of titular organist of Saint Sulpice in Paris, Cavaillé-Coll's largest instrument.
The organ has 7,952 pipes, with ca 900 classified as historical. It has 110 real stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard. In December 1992, a two-year restoration of the organ was completed that fully computerized the organ under three LANs (Local Area Networks). The restoration also included a number of additions, notably two further horizontal reed stops en chamade in the Cavaille-Coll style. The Notre-Dame organ is therefore unique in France in having five fully independent reed stops en chamade.
Among the best-known organists at Notre-Dame de Paris was Louis Vierne, who held this position from 1900 to 1937. Under his tenure, the Cavaillé-Coll organ was modified in its tonal character, notably in 1902 and 1932. Léonce de Saint-Martin held the post between 1932 and 1954. Pierre Cochereau initiated further alterations (many of which were already planned by Louis Vierne), including the electrification of the action between 1959 and 1963. The original Cavaillé-Coll console, (which is now located near the organ loft), was replaced by a new console in Anglo-American style and the addition of further stops between 1965 and 1972, notably in the pedal division, the recomposition of the mixture stops, a 32' plenum in the Neo-Baroque style on the Solo manual, and finally the adding of three horizontal reed stops "en chamade" in the Iberian style.
After Cochereau's sudden death in 1984, four new titular organists were appointed at Notre-Dame in 1985: Jean-Pierre Leguay, Olivier Latry, Yves Devernay (who died in 1990), and Philippe Lefebvre. This was reminiscent of the 18th-century practice of the cathedral having four titular organists, each one playing for three months of the year.
Bells
The new bell, Marie, ringing in the nave
The new bells of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral on public display in the nave in February 2013
The treasure consists of important ornaments of the Fourteenth Century.
On the night of 24 August 1944 as the Île de la Cité was taken by an advance column of French and Allied armoured troops and elements of the Resistance, it was the tolling of the Emmanuel that announced to the city that its liberation was under way.
In early 2012, as part of a €2 million project, the four old bells in the north tower were deemed unsatisfactory and removed. The plan originally was to melt them down and recast new bells from the material. However, a legal challenge resulted in the bells being saved in extremis at the foundry.[14] As of early 2013, they are still merely set aside until their fate is decided. A set of 8 new bells was cast by the same foundry, Cornille-Havard, in Normandy that had cast the four in 1856. At the same time, a much larger bell called Marie was cast in Asten, Netherlands by Royal Eijsbouts — it now hangs with Emmanuel in the south tower. The 9 new bells, which were delivered to the cathedral at the same time (31 January 2013),[15] are designed to replicate the quality and tone of the cathedral's original bells.
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Statue of Liberty
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/statue-of-liberty-pont-de-grenelle
There are many magnificent sites one can expect to see from the top of the Eiffel Tower: the Arc de Triomphe; Notre-Dame Cathedral; the Louvre. Something one might not expect to see is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. And yet, just to the south, smack dab in the middle of the river Seine, by golly there it is.
The quarter-scale replica sits on the southern end of Île aux Cygnes, an artificial island built in the Seine in 1827 to separate river traffic from the busy port of Grenelle. Over time, a tree-lined walkway was built that runs the full 850-meter length of the island, and three bridges were built across the island to connect the 15th and 16th arrondissements. Île aux Cygnes is the third-largest island in Paris.
The statue itself was given to the city of Paris in 1889 by the American community in Paris to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. In characteristic American fashion, the statue was officially inaugurated on the Fourth of July (a date not at all associated with the French Revolution) rather than Bastille Day (a mere ten days later, and often described to the uninitiated as the “French Fourth of July”). To be fair, the inauguration was presided over by French President Marie François Sadi Carnot, who probably had other things to do on Bastille Day (also, the statue’s tablet bears the date July 14, 1789, as well as July 4, 1776). The gift was given to highlight the historically close bond between France and the United States, and reaffirm the dedication of the two nations to the republican ideal on which they were founded.
This Pont de Grenelle Statue of Liberty was installed some three years after the New York Statue of Liberty, and in fact was originally one of the working models made whilst preparing to construct the “real thing.” The statue can be accessed via either the Pont de Grenelle or the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, both of which cross the Île aux Cygnes. While this is not the only Statue of Liberty replica in Paris—both the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée des Arts et Métiers house their own—this is the only Statue of Liberty replica in Paris that was featured in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. That alone is worth the cost of admission*. Admission costs nothing.
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Tug Boats on the Seine
Charlotte on the River Cruise
List of Ponts (Bridges) on Seine River
Pont Des Arts - near La Louvre
Pont Nerf
Pont Alexandre III - Near Grand Palais
Point de Birhakeim
Point de l'Archeveche
Pont de la Concorde
Pont Marie
Pont au Change
Pont de la Tournelle
Pont D'lena
Pont au Double
Pont de l'Alma
Pont Mirabeau
Pont Notre-Dame near notre-dame
Pont Royal (also near Notre-dame
Pont des Invalides
Passerelle Leopold-Sed....
Petit Pont
Passerelle Simone-de-B....
Pont du Carousel
Pont de Sully
Pont de Grenelle
Pont Louis Philippe
Passerelle debilly
Pont d'Austerlitz
Pont Charles-de-Gaulle
Pont d'Arcole
Pont de Bercy
Pont National
Pont de Tolbiac
Viaduc d'Austerlitz
Pont Sait-Michel
Pont Rouelle
Pont Saint-Louis
Pont du garigliano
Pont amont
Pont aval
Pon de Neuilly
How to tell right bank from left bank of Seine River.
If downstream - water flowing downstream (drop a potato chip to see how flows)
left bank on left and right on right
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