Page 137 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

TUILERIES QU AR TER  135

Jules Hardouin-Mansart to
display the statue to its
best advantage. Unfortunately,
the 1792 mobs were less
sycophantic and tore down the
statue. A replacement, of a
different style, was erected in
1822, to the detriment of the
whole system of proportions
of buildings-to- statue. Yet
the square retains much of the
original design. The site of
Thierry Mugler’s first boutique, it
has become known as a fashion
hub; major names such as Kenzo
The long Galerie Dorée in the Banque de France and Cacharel can be found here.
Mansart designed this mansion o Place des
for Louis XIII’s Secretary of State, Victoires
Louis de la Vrillière, with the
splen did 50-m (164-ft) long 75002. Map 12 F1. q Palais-Royal.
Galerie Dorée specially created for
hang ing his great collection of This circle of elegant mansions
historical paintings. The house was built in 1685 solely to offset
was later sold to the Comte de the statue of Louis XIV by
Toulouse, son of Louis XIV and Desjardins, which was placed in
Madame de Montespan. It the middle, with torches burning
was reconstructed in the 19th day and night. The proportions
century after the Revolution. The of the build ings and even the
bank’s most famous alumnus is arrangement of the surrounding
Jacques Delors, president of the streets were all designed by
European Commission 1985–94. the architect and courtier Louis XIV on Place des Victoires

much land belonged to his host,
and therefore establishing his
undoubted wealth. So, early on
the formal garden became a
status symbol, and it still is. This is
obvious in both private gardens
and in grand public projects.
Napoleon Bonaparte completed
his vista from the Jardin des
Tuileries with a triumphal arch.
The late President Mitterrand
applied the principle in building
his Grand Arche de la Défense
(see pp42–3, 248) along the same
axis as the Tuileries and Arc
de Triomphe.
But formal gardens were also
made to be enjoyed. People in
the 17th century believed that
A Bagatelle garden with floral colour (see p247) walking in the fresh air kept
them in good health. What more
pebbles and carefully thought-out of a formal garden was from the perfect spot than a formal
splashes of floral colour. Symmetry first floor of the château, from garden bedecked with statues
and harmony were the land- which the combination of and fountains for additional
scaper’s watchwords, a sense of boxwood hedges, flowers and entertainment. The old and
grandeur and magnificence his gravel came together in an intricate, infirm could be carried around in
ultimate goal. In the 17th century, abstract pattern, a blossoming sedan chairs and people could
as now, French formal gardens tapestry that complemented meet one another around a
served two purposes: as a setting the château’s interior. Paths of boxwood hedge or on a stone
or backdrop for a château or palace, trees drew the eye into infinity, bench under the marble gaze
and for enjoyment. The best view reminding the onlooker of how of the goddess Diana.

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