 |
|
In this issue: |
|
|
|
|
|
Birth of a Castle
The king Francois the First decided to make Paris the principal seat of the monarchy...
|
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Sign up for a newsletter that will intoduce you to a
new region of France every month!
|
|
The Tuileries
Catherine of Medicis did not like the Louvre. She deplored above all what she called its discomfort!
|
An Artistic Vocation
Henry the Fourth accommodated the greatest artists, painters, sculptors and silversmiths of his time.
Sheds and homes sprouted like mushrooms in the interior courtyard...
|
The Tuileries: The End of a Monarchic Symbol
The Louvre was saved but the Tuileries were ashes...
|
The Future, the Museum
The Louvre quickly became the seat of the cultural world but it is after the disappearance of the Tuileries, it
found its vocation as a museum...
|
Forward this Newsletter
Forward this newsletter to your friends and make them dream
about "la Belle France".
|
 |
|
onjour! We have dedicated this February newsletter to a castle built during the middle Ages, situated in the heart
of Paris. Eight centuries of transformations, expansions and beautifications permitted the extraordinary
metamorphosis of this building, whose initial vocation was purely military, and which today offers one of
the most grandiose and most beautiful art museums in the world: the Louvre.
But before continuing, please remember that you can
access and read all the newsletters already published at
www.FranceMonthly.com and receive our free monthly newsletter through email:
just subscribe at
www.FranceMonthly.com.
We commit to NEVER sell your email address to another company.
| The Louvre Museum! |
 |
A Medieval Castle in the Twelfth Century
As King Philip Augustus came to reign in 1180, he wanted to protect an otherwise vulnerable Paris from the English
enemy which was lurking close by in Normandy. He chose to equip the city with a protective wall along the borders
of the Seine. He built a fortified castle along these ramparts in a location called the Louvre. The defensive
fortress of military vocation consisted of a square building with one door placed on the borders of the Seine and
one in the direction of Paris. It also had ten towers and was surrounded by a large circular moat more than ten
meters wide. The ditch was not only impregnable, but also became a true blessing for the kingdom. Actually, the
waters of the Seine nourished this moat which was cleaned out regularly. The many types of fresh water fish that
were caught were sold for the profit of the Royal Treasury. In the interior courtyard an imposing dungeon fifteen
meters in diameter -- symbol of the monarchic powers -- served as a prison, an arsenal and a hiding place for the
Archives and Royal Treasury. In this original building the “seed” of the splendor of the Louvre was planted, but
we were still far from today’s museum.
The Fourteenth Century: A Royal Residence
A century and a half later, Paris had spread out way beyond the Louvre and the fortress was now surrounded by
the city. With the Louvre no longer in a strategic position, under the impulse of Charles the Fifth, the medieval
castle was slowly transformed into a royal palace. More than two decades were needed for the king to build new
main buildings, raise the existing buildings and embellish them with sloping roofs topped with crenellations,
turrets and with weather vanes ornamented with the coat of arms of France. Because danger still lurked, Charles
the fifth had a new protective wall built. He continued to embellish the castle; decorating it richly, making it
more spacious and comfortable, as well laying out magnificent gardens. The famous miniature of The Very Rich Hours
of the Duke of Berry offers the image of a castle straight out of a fairy tale. From an architectural point of view,
it accurately represents the Louvre of 1380. Still, very far from the Louvre we now know...
|
|
| Recipe
for February 2004 |
Zucchini Gratin
 |
|
|
|
Cooking SOS !
If you run into trouble with one of our recipes, send an SOS e-mail to
911@FranceMonthly.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Birth of a Castle Worthy of the Kings of the Sixteenth Century
|
Probably Francois the First deserves credit for the true metamorphosis of the palace. Passionate about hunting, and a
lover the Loire valley castles, he decided to make Paris the principal seat of the monarchy,
and to settle himself in the Louvre. When he arrived, the Louvre was still a medieval fortress. He had the enormous
dungeon destroyed to allow for a paved and sunny courtyard. As the old castle was transformed into its more rectilinear
shape, with ornate columned facades and richly sculpted cornices, its initial aspect began to disappear and make room
for a new corps of buildings. His original goal -- to dazzle his fellow citizens as well as neighboring kingdoms –
succeeded. Tournaments, parties and elegant balls were organized at the Louvre. The artistic thrust had finally arrived
and did not cease at least until Louis the Fourteenth, who as we know, abandoned the Louvre castle for Versailles, which
he preferred.
|
 |
|
|
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Subscribe to this monthly newsletter. Every month brings you
to a new and wonderful area of France with unique stories and insights into its
history and best areas to visit. We commit to NEVER sell your email address
to another company. Click on the image below.
|
|
|
|
The Tuileries
|
|
Catherine of Medicis, the wife of Henry the Second, did not like the Louvre. Too much like a fortress and not yet a
royal palace, the queen felt confined, and deplored above all what she called its discomfort(!) The queen mother
decided to have her own castle built five hundred meters west of the present one, at the site of an old tile factory.
(Hence the name: the Tuileries.) The initial project consisted of a set of buildings forming a giant quadrilateral.
However, as the construction labored on, she chose to settle in a private hotel located in the interior of Paris and
forgot the Tuileries altogether, which, other than one wing and a magnificent garden, remained unfinished. The palace’s
destiny did not stop at this page in history, however. Later, in 1789, it was in fact the Tuileries where the Parisians
put Louis the Sixteenth after having torn him violently from Versailles. It was from the Tuileries that the king
attempted to flee in disguise with his family, only to be caught in Varennes and returned under solid escort, on
June 25, 1791. The destiny of the Tuileries was still uncertain at that time, but, inciting the limitless hatred of
the betrayed Parisians, the destiny of Louis the Sixteenth and his wife Marie-Antoinette was perfectly laid out.
|
 |
|
|
Forward this Newsletter
Share the information on this region of France with a friend
by clicking on the image below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Artistic Vocation
|
 |
Henry the Fourth played an important role in the pursuit of the transformation of the Louvre and the development
of its artistic vocation. He joined the Louvre to the Tuileries by having the “Grande Galerie” built. 460 meters
long along the borders of the Seine, he actually wanted to stroll along while admiring the river. Patron to the arts,
he accommodated the greatest artists, painters, sculptors and silversmiths of his time. Inside he had the “petite
Galerie” built. An enormous building site always in perpetual motion, for many centuries, the Louvre became the
living place of artists and their families, of courtesans who took over the numerous rooms of the palace, and of
suitors that strolled through the gardens. Sheds and homes sprouted like mushrooms in the interior courtyard, and
it was a hustling and bustling community unto itself. Still very far from the monument of today, at this time there
was nothing left of the first castle, and the historical events to come next eventually finish the transformation.
Would you like to read more about France? Click here.
|
|
|
The Tuileries: The End of a Monarchic Symbol of the Nineteenth Century
|
|
In 1792 the killing frenzy of the French Revolution was at its peak. On August 10 canons fired upon the palace during
the violent battle between revolutionaries and Swiss army guards; a true massacre, with the killing of more than 300
revolutionaries and more than 1000 of the king’s guards. The monarchy was abolished but the State remained at the Tuileries,
which henceforth was called the National Palace. The end of this battle was no more than a reprieve, however. Another
revolution permanently brought the destruction of the National Palace. In 1870, the city was in an uproar. Starving
Parisians invaded the House of Deputies. They demanded the fall of the Second Empire and the proclamation of the
Republic. A year later, new battles ensued, and new dramas unfolded. Soldiers deliberately set it on fire, and
attempted to do the same to the Louvre. Luckily the guards managed to protect it. The Louvre was saved but the
Tuileries were ashes. Some dreamt of its reconstruction, but after the revolution’s end, the all-new Republic was
seated at the Elysee Palace, and in 1882 all had but one idea: to extinguish the symbols of the past era and to move on.
|
|
|
The Future, the Museum
|
|
Having lost its position as the seat of the monarchy, the Louvre quickly became the seat of the cultural world.
After the disappearance of the Tuileries, it found its vocation as a museum. Under the Second Empire, the gifts of
artwork flooded in and considerably enriched the collection. The museum, until then designated solely for artists,
was for the first time open to the public -- who arrived in droves. Slowly, the artwork, (until then more crammed
than exposed), took on more importance. Henceforth, it was no longer the richness of the collection that mattered,
but that each painting, each sculpture or each tapestry was presented to its fullest. Display became an art unto
itself wherein one made use of the space, the light, and the harmony. Exteriorly, the Louvre continued to be
transformed... with the disappearance of the Tuileries the perspective from the Palace to the Arc of Triumph was
much more impressive. Napoleon the Third had the Arc of the Carrousel built; Haussmann had the homes that defaced
the interior courtyard destroyed, and had the aristocratic rue de Rivoli built running parallel to the north wing.
|
|
With the ever increasing throngs of tourists and art lovers visiting the Louvre each year, it became urgent to
refit the entrance to facilitate access to the museum. In the 1980’s, president Francois Mitterand chose an American
of Chinese origin, Leoh Ming Pei, to realize this project. The ingenious architect opted for the construction of a
clear glass pyramid, surrounded by water fountains, in the heart of the Napoleon courtyard. Built in the proportion
of Cheops – the large Egyptian pyramid south of Cairo – all in glass and steel, it offered both light and volume and
became the official entrance to one of the most beautiful museums of the world, where thousands of the worlds most
precious artworks are exposed. Greek, Egyptian and Oriental art, the greatest painters of all times, of all countries
harmoniously rub shoulders in the rooms for the greatest pleasure of the art lover or of the uninitiated. Do not
hesitate to visit the Louvre yourself, but dedicate a few days to this monumental museum, or visit according to a
theme, for one cannot underestimate the many artistic splendors from all corners of the earth are intermingled in
one magical place...
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
