The Louvre [antikvár]

.ailu. hi. XLLl A The Palace and Museum of the Louvre This was originally a Mediaeval fortress, built under Philippe August in 1200 at the point where the defences of Paris were weakest, on the site known as "Lupara", which became "Louvre" in French. This corresponds to the present site of the South-West quarter of the Square Courtyard. When it ceased to serve as a defence post, Charles V (1364-1380) had it enlarged and adapted for use as a royal residence. However, its new function soon came to an end; the vicissitudes of the Hundred Years War, then the attraction of the Loire Valley diverted the attention of the sovereigns from their capital for over one and a half centuries. When they returned to Paris, the old fortified castle was abolished. Francois I had its imposing keep demolished in 1527, then in 1546, he decided to replace the rest by a building in the Renaissance style. The operation was entrusted to the architect Pierre Lescot, who completed it under the last Valois kings and is supposed to have drawn up the plans of the new palace. In any case, the work was carried on during the following reigns and centuries in the same spirit of classical regularity. Catherine de Medicis then ordered Phihbert Delorme and Jean BuUand to construct two galleries, about 500 meters to the West, on the spot known as the Tuileries, in order to connect the partly transformed Louvre with the palace built at the same period. These are the Small and the Great Galleries, the latter also being known as the "Gallery by the Water", recalling the name of Henri IV (1589-1610). During the 17th century, under Louis xm, then Louis XIV, the remaining buildings surrounding the present Square Courtyard were raised by Lemercier, then by Le Vau. They are flanked on the East by Perrault's Colonnade (i). In the early 19th century, under Napoleon 1st, Percier and Fontaine began to construct the North Wing, symetrical to the Great Gallery, at the same time as they completed the quadrilateral buildings and their decoration. Half a century later. Napoleon III ordered Visconti, then Lefuel, to construct the buildings bordering the Napoleon Courtyard on the North and South, so as to complete the enclosure of the space between the Old Louvre and the Tuileries (2). However, the Tuileries were destroyed by fire in 1871 1. The Louvre Palace: —rsi,. Perrault's Colonnade »W