Monuments Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: AlbinoFlea
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
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.
