The Louvre: A History Lesson

Alright, so I've covered the Louvre's pyramids briefly before, but when you enter the Louvre, one of the first things you have the option of seeing is the fantastic and incredible history of the palace. In fact, it made such a good first impression on me, it seemed a logical place to start talking about the Louvre's collections.

This is a model of the original castle at the entrance to the archeological site.

The Louvre started its life not as a grand palace, but as a large, heavily fortified castle. Built in the late 12th century by Philippe Auguste (Philip II), it sat along the first city wall and protected the banks of the Seine from northern invaders. Not originally intended as a royal residence, the fortress had four large bastions at each corner, with massive walls protecting a large central tower, called the Donjon. Known as the Cour Carrée, or Squared Court, the base of the structure is still on view as an archeological site in the Sully wing of the museum.

A corner of an inner wall in the archeological site, showing the size of the
fortress' heavily protected buildings.

The fortress was constantly renovated before becoming the home of the Royal Treasury in the mid-13th century. Under Louis IX, it also quickly joined the likes of Château de Vincennes and Hotel Saint-Pol as Parisian royal residences. Beautification of the fortress under Charles V, who also began projects to expand the fortress into a palatial residence, was quickly put an end by the Hundred Years War. The original structure was demolished after standing for almost 400 years to make way for a more modern palace, constructed under Francis I.

A plaque on the former entrance, showing the year Francis I began construction.

The Sully Pavilion, the first of the modern Louvre buildings.

Francis I also began collecting art, and obtained many of the pieces which became the heart of the modern museum's collection, including the Mona Lisa. His death interrupted the construction project, which largely remained stagnant. In 1564, however, Catherine De Medicis constructed a new palace, Palais des Tuileries. This massive palace stood at the far end of the Tuileries gardens. After its construction, Catherine took over renovation of the Louvre and many of its expansion projects.

The Louvre continued to expand and grow under the Bourbon rule, with many of the largest extensions being built during this time. The aim was to connect the two palaces and create a large courtyard in-between. Louis XIV had the gardens redesigned in the French style, and greatly overhauled the styling of the palace, also expanding several wings and chambers. Ultimately, however, he moved out of the city to the new palace at Versailles, turning the Louvre into an art gallery. The Tuileries, however, remained a royal residence, and the kings continued to move between it and Versailles until their overthrow during the French Revolution.

Under Napoleon, the Louvre continued to grow a flourish. Finally the palace was connected with the Palais des Tuileries, which was then named the residence of the First Consul, and later the imperial palace. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel was also constructed in the massive courtyard under Napoleon I, and construction and expansion continued until 1876.

A plaque near the original entrance, praising the joining of the Louvre
and the Tuileries.

While the main pavilions of the Louvre housed art galleries opened to the public, much of the rest of the building was still used by the French Ministry until President Mitterand moved them in 1983 and began massive renovations on the entire palace. Architect I. M. Pei, also famous for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH, was awarded the project for renovating the courtyards, giving us the now iconic Pyramides de Louvre.

The beautiful Mylan, visiting from her study abroad in Florence, Italy.

A higher view of the Grande Pyramide, from inside the palace.

The Grande Pyramide and the underground lobby were completed in 1988, with the Pyramide Inversée completed in 1993. The Pyramide Inversée sits in the center of the Carrousel du Louvre, a large, underground commercial shopping area linked to the museum's lobby.

Petry, Deondra, and Mylan inside the Grande Pyramide

The Pyramide Inversée in the Carrousel du Louvre.
According to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, this is
the burial place of Mary Magdalene.

So there you go, a somewhat short history of the Musée du Louvre. The next Louvre post will be more art from their collections, though I may take a short detour from the Louvre. I've had a post brewing on some other cultural differences that I have noticed, and I've finally decided to re-sketch my notebook on my Wacom tablet, since I lack a scanner here. In any situation, look for another post soon!

The girls jumping for joy at me getting another post up! Yay!