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Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
(Pronounced: ark  de tree ohmff  dew  care rou sell)
Paris, France


Photographs taken in February 2012.

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel  is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel on the site of the former Tuileries Palace. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year. The more famous Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile nearby was designed in the same year, but it took thirty years to build, and it is about twice as massive.

Looking west, the arch is perfectly aligned with the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, the centerline of the grand boulevard Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe at the Place de l'Étoile.  When the Tuileries was burned down during the Paris Commune (1871) and its ruins were swept away, the great axis, as it presently exists, was opened all the way to the Place du Carrousel and the Louvre.

... the arch was built between 1806 and 1808 by the Emperor Napoleon I on the model of the Arch of Constantine (312 AD) in Rome.

The quadriga atop the arch is a copy of the so-called Horses of Saint Mark that adorn the top of the main door of the St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

Around its exterior are eight Corinthian columns of granite, topped by eight soldiers of the Empire.

- Wikipedia (April 2012)
The term "carrousel" meaning "little war" comes from the custom of staging military shows or exercises mainly for the delight of the royals.
 
One very famous carrousel was held in June 1662, at the command of Louis the XIV, whose reign was known for the splendor of extravaganzas such as this.

On the field between the Louvre Palace and the Tuileries Garden, knights costumed in full regalia performed feats of horsemanship, accompanied by music and song.

To this day, the place is known as The Carrousel.

It was here that Napoleon I commissioned one of his two great arches, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. This Arc was modeled after the Arch of Septimus Severus in Rome. It was designed and built by architects Charles Percier and Francois Fontaine between 1806-1808.

- ParisWalkingTours.com (April 2012)


Left: Louvre Museum


Louvre Museum in background


Same view at night








"It was originally surmounted by the famous horses of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, which had been captured in 1798 by Napoleon. In 1815, following the Battle of Waterloo and the Bourbon restoration, France ceded the quadriga to the Austrian empire which had annexed Venice under the terms of the Congress of Vienna. The Austrians immediately returned the statuary to its original place in Venice. The horses were replaced in 1828 by a quadriga sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio, depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot led by gilded Victories on both sides. The composition commemorates the Restoration of the Bourbons following Napoleon's downfall." - Wikipedia (April 2012)



Coffered barrel ceiling with rosettes



Cornice supported by modillions  over egg-and-dart ..... Corinthian marble column ..... Spandrel





Photos and their arrangement © 2012 Chuck LaChiusa
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