Mary of Medicis, relict of Henry IV, having purchased of the Duke of
Luxembourg his hotel and its dependencies, erected on their site this
palace. It was built in 1616, under the direction of JACQUES DE
BROSSE, on the plan of the _Pitti_ palace at Florence.
Next to the _Louvre_, the _Luxembourg_ is the most spacious palace in
Paris. It is particularly distinguished for its bold character, its
regularity, and the beauty of its proportions. The whole façade is
ornamented with coupled pilasters: on the ground-floor, the Tuscan
order is employed, and above, the Doric, with alternate rustics. In
the four pavilions, placed at the angles of the principal pile, the
Ionic has been added to the other two orders, because they are more
elevated than the rest of the buildings. Towards the _Rue de
Tournon_, the two pavilions communicate by a handsome terrace, in the
middle of which is a circular saloon, surmounted by a dome of the
most elegant proportion. Beneath this dome is the principal entrance.
The court is spacious, and on each side of it are covered arches
which form galleries on the ground-floor and in front of the upper
story.
The twenty-four pictures which Mary of Medicis had caused to be
painted by the celebrated RUBENS, for the gallery of the
_Luxembourg_, had been removed from it some years before the
revolution. At that time even, they were intended for enriching the
Museum of the _Louvre_. Four of them are now exhibited there in the
Great Gallery. They are allegorical; with the other twenty, they
represent the prosperous part of the history of that queen, and form
a striking contrast to the adversity she afterwards experienced
through the persecution of Cardinal Richelieu.
To gratify his revenge, he ordered all the furniture, &c. belonging
to Mary of Medicis to be sold, together with the statues which then
decorated the courts and garden of the _Luxembourg_, and pursued with
inveteracy the unfortunate queen who had erected this magnificent
edifice. Being exiled from France in 1631, she wandered for a long
time in Flanders, and also in England, till the implacable cardinal
prevailed on Charles I, to command her to quit the kingdom. In 1642,
she took refuge at Cologne, and, at the age of 68, there died in a
garret, almost through hunger and distress.
Before the revolution, this palace belonged to MONSIEUR, next brother
to Lewis XVI. It has since been occupied by the Directory, each of
whose members here had apartments. No material change has yet been
made in it; nor does any thing announce that the partial alterations
intended, either in its exterior or interior, will speedily be
completed.
"----_Pendent opera interrupta minæque, &c._"
At the present day, the _Luxembourg_ is appropriated to the
Conservative Senate, whose name it has taken, and who here hold their
sittings in a hall, fitted up in a style of magnificence still
superior to that of the Legislative Body. But the sittings of the
former are not public like those of the latter; and as I had no more
than a peep at their fine hall, I cannot enter into a description of
its beauties.
However, I took a view of their garden, in which I had formerly
passed many a pleasant hour. Here, workmen are employed in making
considerable improvements. It was before very irregular, particularly
towards the south, where the view from the palace was partly
concealed by the buildings of the monastery of the Carthusians. By
degrees, these irregularities are made to disappear, and this garden
will shortly be laid out in such a manner as to correspond better
with the majesty of the palace, and display its architecture to
greater advantage. Alleys of trees, which were decayed from age, have
been cut down, and replaced by young plants of thriving growth. In
front of the south façade is to be a tasteful parterre, with an
oblong piece of water in its centre. Beyond the garden is a large
piece of ground formerly belonging to the Carthusian monastery, which
is now nearly demolished; this ground is to be converted into a
national nursery for all sorts of valuable fruit-trees. Being
contiguous to the garden of the Senate, with which it communicates,
it will furnish a very extensive promenade, and consequently add to
the agreeableness of the place.
The present Minister of the Interior, CHAPTAL, who cultivates the
arts and sciences with no less zeal than success, purposes to make
here essays on the culture of vine-plants of every species, in order
to obtain comparative results, which will throw a new light on that
branch of rural economy.
A great number of vases and statues are placed in the garden of the
Senate. Many of these works are indifferently executed, though a few
of them are in a good style. Certainly, a more judicious and more
decorous choice ought to have been made. It was not necessary to
excite regret in the mind of the moralist, by placing under the eyes
of the public figures of both sexes which are repugnant to modesty.
If it be really meant to attempt to mend the loose morals of the
nation, why are nudities, which may be considered as the leaven of
corruption, exposed thus in this and other national gardens in Paris?
* * * * *
_March 5, in continuation_.
St. Foix, in his "_Essais historiques sur Paris_" speaking of the
Bastille, says, "it is a castle, which, without being strong, is one
of the most formidable in Europe." In their arduous struggle for
liberty, the French have scarcely left a vestige of this dread abode,
in which have been immured so many victims of political vengeance. I
will not pretend to affirm that such is the description of prisoners
now confined in