The cour d'honneur looking west

The palais du Louvre in Paris, on the Right Bank of the Seine is a former royal palace, situated between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Its origins date back almost a thousand years and its present structure has evolved in stages since the sixteenth century. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (4250x1480, 570 KB) Pyramid of the Louvre (Paris), panorama File links The following pages link to this file: Mona Lisa French art ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (4250x1480, 570 KB) Pyramid of the Louvre (Paris), panorama File links The following pages link to this file: Mona Lisa French art ... Blenheim Palace, The Cour dHonneur is the large central court formed by the secondary wings containing kitchens and domestic offices flanking the Corps de logis Versailles: Louis Le Vau opened up the interior court to create the expansive entrance cour dhonneur, later copied all over Europe Cour d... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Seine (pronounced in French) is a major river of north-western France, and one of its commercial waterways. ... Up to 1871 the Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine. ... Paris : Church Saint-Germain lAuxerrois 2, Place du Louvre, 75001. ...

The Louvre, which gets its name from a Frankish word leovar or leower, signifying a fortified place, according to the French historian Henri Sauval (1623-1676), was the actual seat of power in France until Louis XIV moved to Versailles in 1682, bringing the government perforce with him; the Louvre remained the formal seat of government to the end of the Ancien Régime. Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... “Sun King” redirects here. ... The Château de Versailles, or Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, France. ... Ancien Régime, a French term meaning Former Regime, but rendered in English as Old Rule, Old Order, or simply Old Regime, refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. ...

Model of the first royal "Castle of the Louvre"

Remains of the medieval foundations can still be seen underneath the museum.

The first royal "Castle of the Louvre"— it was first mentioned under this name in a charter of 1198.— was founded in the centre of Paris by Philip Augustus as a fortified royal palace to defend the Île de la Cité, which had been the heart of Merovingian Paris and where the palace was still sited, on its west. In the fourteenth century, Charles V remodelled the structure to provide some suitably splendid apartments, but François I and Henri II demolished it to build a Renaissance palace; the foundations of the original fortress tower are now under the Salle des Cariatides ("Room of the Caryatids"). Model of the Castle of the Louvre I made this picture of a model exhibited in the Louvre in 2001. ... Model of the Castle of the Louvre I made this picture of a model exhibited in the Louvre in 2001. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 221 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Louvre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 221 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Louvre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe II Auguste) (August 21, 1165 – July 14, 1223), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. ... The ÃŽle de la Cité, one of two islands in the Seine River (the other being ÃŽle Saint-Louis), is the centre of Paris, France, and the location where the city was founded. ... Charles V the Wise (French: Charles V le Sage) (January 21, 1338 – September 16, 1380) was king of France from 1364 to 1380 and a member of the Valois Dynasty. ... A caryatid (also spelt Karyatid), is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. ...

Map of the Louvre

The earliest existing part of the Palais du Louvre was begun in 1535. The architect Pierre Lescot introduced to Paris the new design vocabulary of the Renaissance, which had been developed in the châteaux of the Loire Valley. His new wing for the old castle defined its status, as the first among the royal palaces. Jacques Androuet du Cerceau also worked on the Louvre. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x763, 123 KB) A version of fr:Image:Plan louvre1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x763, 123 KB) A version of fr:Image:Plan louvre1. ... Pierre Lescot (Paris c. ... The châteaux of the Loire Valley (Val de Loire) number more than 300. ... Androuet du Cerceau was a family of French architects and designers active in the 16th and early 17th century. ...

During his reign (1589-1610), Henri IV added the Grande Galerie. More than a quarter of a mile long and one hundred feet wide, this huge addition was built along the bank of the Seine; at the time of its completion it was the longest edifice of its kind in the world. Henri IV, a promoter of the arts, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work on the building's lower floors. This tradition continued for another 200 years until Napoleon III ended it. Henry IV of France, also Henry III of Navarre (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. ... Napoléon III of France, born Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) was President of the French Republic from 1848 to 1851, then from 2 December 1851 to 2 December 1852 the ruler of a dictatorial government, then Emperor of the French under the name...

The Richelieu Wing at night

Louis XIII (1610-1643) completed the wing now called the Denon Wing, which had been started by Catherine de' Medici in 1560. Today it has been renovated, as a part of the Grand Louvre Renovation Programme. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x3072, 3545 KB) Summary Aile Richelieu du Louvre 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Louvre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x3072, 3545 KB) Summary Aile Richelieu du Louvre 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Louvre Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Dominique Vivant, Baron de Denon (4 January 1747 - 27 April 1825) was a French artist and archaeologist. ... Catherine de Medici, c. ...

The Richelieu Wing was also built by Louis XIII, the building first being opened to the public as a museum on November 8, 1793 during the French Revolution. Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death in 1642. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on...

Commissioned by Louis XIV, architect Claude Perrault's eastern wing (1665-1680), crowned by an uncompromising Italian balustrade along its distinctly non-French flat roof, was a ground-breaking departure in French architecture. His severe design was chosen over a design provided by the great Bernini, who came to Paris for the purpose. Perrault had translated the Roman architect Vitruvius into French. Now Perrault's rhythmical paired columns form a shadowed colonnade with a central pedimented triumphal arch entrance raised on a high, rather defensive basement, in a restrained classicizing baroque manner that has provided models for grand edifices in Europe and America for centuries. The Metropolitan Museum in New York, for one example, reflects Perrault's Louvre design. “Sun King” redirects here. ... Though Claude Perrault (Paris, 1613 - Paris, 1688) is best known as the architect of the eastern range of the Louvre in Paris, he also achieved success as physician and anatomist, and as an author, who wrote treatises on physics and natural history. ... Stairs, staircase, stairway, flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. ... Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini; December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680) was a pre-eminent Baroque sculptor and architect of 17th century Rome. ... Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born ca. ... Deconstructing a Roman pillar. ... Enormous colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg. ... A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of a triangular section or gable found above the horizontal superstructure (entablature) which lies immediately upon the columns. ... Arc de Triomphe, Paris A triumphal arch is a structure in the shape of a monumental archway, usually built to celebrate a victory in war. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... There is also the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), located in Manhattan. ... New York, NY redirects here. ...

The Louvre was still being added to by Napoleon III. The new wing of 1852-1857, by architects Visconti and Hector Lefuel, represents the Second Empire's version of Neo-baroque, full of detail and laden with sculpture. Work continued until 1876. 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The canonical example of Second Empire style is the Opéra Garnier, in which Neo-Baroque meets Neo-Renaissance. ... The foyer of the Paris Opera, built by Charles Garnier Neo-baroque is a term used to describe artistic creations which display important aspects of Baroque style, but are not from the Baroque period proper. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

External links

• Ministry of Culture database entry for the Louvre (French)
• Ministry of Culture photos
• Le Louvre seen by art painters