History
Construction began in 1595, using the design of Jacques Androuet II du Cerceau who worked in cooperation with the architect Louis Métezeau. The project was part of a larger plan designed to incorporate the Palais du Louvre and Palais des Tuileries into one complex. The proposal would extend the southern arm of the Palais du Louvre, the Grande Galerie, with a structure that would be named the Pavillon des Tuileries. The northern face, along the Rue de Rivoli, would also be extended, with the Pavillon de Marsan. Work on the project was abandoned following the assassination of King Henry IV in 1610. However, by this time, the building of the Pavillon des Tuileries had been completed. King Louis XIV renamed the structure Pavillon de Flore, the name used today despite several changes in between.
The Pavillon de Flore has undergone significant structural alterations since its inception, most notably during the reign of Napoléon III, who in 1861 authorized its remodeling under the supervision of architects Visconti and Hector Lefuel. The renovation, performed between 1864 and 1868, added significant detail and sculpture to the work, which is thus noted as an example of Second Empire Neo-Baroque architecture. Furthermore, Napoléon III commissioned sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux to create a piece that would evoke "Flore" (in English Flora), the Roman goddess who represents flowers and spring.
Despite the changes to the building, it is the only portion of the Palais des Tuileries complex still in existence. On May 23, 1871, incendiary fires set by twelve members of the Paris Commune, a revolutionary government that briefly ruled Paris from the March 26, 1871 to May 28, 1871, burned the Palais des Tuileries to the ground. The palace's destruction affected the aesthetic relationship between the Palais du Louvre and other buildings in the area. The Palais des Tuileries had served to offset the fact that the Palais du Louvre is skewed slightly 6.33° west of the Axe historique (also known as the Voie Triomphale), a seven-kilometre straight line of structures and thoroughfares, including the Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arche de La Défense.
During the course of its life, the Pavillon de Flore has housed numerous notable people and activities. For several years, the apartments of Marie Antoinette were located within the structure and Pope Pius VII also stayed in the building while preparing to crown Napoléon I Emperor of the French. While residing there, the Pope received various "bodies of the State, the clergy, and the religious corporations." Additionally, Emperor Napoléon's procession began at the Pavillon de Flore. Currently, the Pavillon de Flore is notable for being a part of the Musée du Louvre.
Read more about this topic: Pavillon De Flore
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