Tuileries Palace

Up to 1871 the Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine.

History of the Tuileries

After the death of Henry II of France in 1559, his widow Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) planned a new palace. She began the building of the palace of Tuileries in 1564, using architect Philibert de l'Orme. The name derives from the tile kilns or tuileries which previously occupied the site. The palace was formed by a range of long, narrow buildings with high roofs that enclosed one major and two minor courtyards. The building was greatly enlarged in the 1600s, so that the southeast corner of the Tuileries joined the Louvre.

Related Topics:
Henry II of France - 1559 - Catherine de' Medici - 1519 - 1589 - 1564 - Philibert de l'Orme - Louvre

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Louis XIV resided at the Tuileries Palace while Versailles was under construction. His garden designer André Le Notre laid out parterres for the Tuileries in 1664, but when the king left, the building was virtually abandoned; it was used only as a theater, and its gardens became a fashionable resort of Parisians. During the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his family were forced to return from Versailles to the Tuileries under house arrest, starting in October 1789. They tried to escape on the evening of June 20, 1791, but were captured at Varennes and were returned to the Tuileries. The Tuileries were later stormed on August 10, 1792 by the Paris mob, who overwhelmed and massacred the Swiss Guards; the royal family fled through the gardens and took refuge with the Legislative Assembly.

Related Topics:
Louis XIV - Versailles - André Le Notre - Parterre - French Revolution - Louis XVI - 1789 - June 20 - 1791 - Captured at Varennes - August 10 - 1792 - Swiss Guard

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For a time, the National Convention held its sessions in the Tuileries. When Napoleon came into power he made Tuileries the official residence of the first consul and then the imperial palace. In 1808 Napoleon began constructing the northern gallery which also connected to the Louvre, enclosing a vast place.

Related Topics:
National Convention - Napoleon

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As Napoleon's chief residence Tuileries Palace was redecorated in the Neoclassical Empire style by Percier and Fontaine and some of the best known architects, designers, and furniture makers of the day. One of the artists, Pierre Paul Prud'hon's (1758-1823) most splendid commissions was to design the apartments of the new Empress, Marie-Louise. For the bridal suite of the Empress Marie-Louise he designed all the furniture and interior decorations in a Greek Revival style.

Related Topics:
Neoclassical - Empire style - Percier and Fontaine - Pierre Paul Prud'hon - Marie-Louise

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In 1809, Jacob-Desmalter, principal supplier of furniture to the Emperor, began work on a jewel cabinet designed for the Empress Joséphine's great bedroom in the Tuileries (and soon to be used by Marie-Louise). This impressive piece of furniture designed by the architect Charles Percier was embellished with several gilt-bronze ornaments: the central panel depicts the "Birth of the Queen of the Earth to whom Cupids and Goddesses hasten with their Offerings" by the bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire, after a bas-relief by Chaudet. Jacob-Desmalter completed the "great jewelry box" in 1812, with two smaller items of furniture in the same style but using indigenous woods.

Related Topics:
Jacob-Desmalter - Joséphine - Pierre-Philippe Thomire - Chaudet

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The Tuileries Palace served as the royal residence after the Bourbon Restoration. In the "July Revolution" of 1830, the palace was attacked for a third time by Parisians and occupied. Louis Philippe took up permanent residence there until 1848 when it was again invaded, on February 24, 1848. The Swiss Guards stationed at the palace, aware of what happened in 1792 to their predecessors, abandoned the palace.

Related Topics:
Bourbon Restoration - July Revolution

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The Palace of the Tuileries served again as the official residence of the executive branch of government after the coup d'état by Napoléon III in 1852; when President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte became Emperor Napoléon III he moved from his presidential office at the Élysée Palace to the Tuileries Palace, ushering in the Second Empire. During the Second Empire, the Tuileries Palace was extensively refurbished and redecorated after the looting and damages that occurred during the Revolution of 1848. Some imposing state rooms were designed and richly decorated, serving as the center stage of the ceremonies and pageantry of the Second Empire, such as on the occasion of Queen Victora's state visit to the Tuileries in 1855. The Second Empire also completed the northern wing of the Louvre along the rue de Rivoli, linking the Tuileries Palace with the rest of the Louvre, and thus finally achieving the huge complex of the Louvre-Tuileries, whose master plan had been envisioned three centuries earlier.

Related Topics:
Napoléon III - 1852 - Élysée Palace - Second Empire - Revolution of 1848 - Queen Victora - 1855 - Rue de Rivoli

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The prominent rooflines of the palace and especially its squared central dome were influential prototypes in the Second Empire style adopted for hotels and commercial buildings as well as residences even in the United Kingdom and North America.

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