Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch in Paris, France. It is located on the Place du Carrousel, just to the west of the Louvre.

Related Topics:
Triumphal arch - Paris - France - Louvre

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Designed by Charles Percier and Pierre Léonard Fontaine, the arch was built between 1806-1808 by the Emperor Napoleon I as a pastiche of the Arch of Septimus Severus in Rome. It was commissioned to commemorate France's military victories in 1805. It was originally surmounted by the famous horses of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, looted by Napoleon, but these were returned there in 1815. They were replaced by a quadriga sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio, depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot, led by gilded Victories on either side; the composition commemorates the Restoration of the Bourbons following Napoleon's downfall.

Related Topics:
Charles Percier and Pierre Léonard Fontaine - 1806 - 1808 - Napoleon I - Arch of Septimus Severus - Rome - 1805 - Saint Mark's Cathedral - Venice - 1815 - Quadriga - François Joseph Bosio - Restoration of the Bourbons

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The high arch is flanked by two smaller ones. Around its exterior are eight Corinthian columns of granite, topped by eight soldiers of the Empire. In the attic between the soldiers, bas-reliefs depict:

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• the Arms of the Kingdom of Italy with figures representing History and the Arts;
• the Arms of the French Empire with Victory, Fame, History and Abundance
• Wisdom and Strength holding the arms of the Kingdom of Italy, accompanied by Prudence and Victory.

Napoleon's diplomatic and military victories are commemorated by bas-reliefs executed in rose marble, depicting the Peace of Pressburg, Napoleon entering Munich, Napoleon entering Vienna, the Battle of Austerlitz, the Tilsit Conference, and the surrender of Ulm. Reliefs also decorate the arches.

Related Topics:
Bas-relief - Peace of Pressburg - Munich - Vienna - Battle of Austerlitz - Tilsit Conference - Ulm

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The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is at the easternmost end of the so-called "Axe historique" ("grand historic axis") of Paris, a nine-kilometre long linear route which dominates central and western Paris. Looking westwards, the arch is perfectly aligned with the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe and (although it is not directly visible from the Place du Carrousel) the Grande Arch de la Defense. The axis thus begins and ends with an arch today. At the time the Arc du Carrousel was built, however, Place du Carrousel fronted the central block of the Palace of the Tuileries, whose long range blocked off the axial view, which originally began from the Tuileries' central garden axis on the farther, west-facing side. When the Tuileries Palace was burnt down in the Paris Commune of 1870 and its ruins swept away, the present great axis was opened.

Related Topics:
Axe historique - Place de la Concorde - Champs-Élysées - Arc de Triomphe - Grande Arch de la Defense - Palace of the Tuileries - Paris Commune

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