Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)Leighton, John
History
Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)
Leighton, John
Paris (France) -- History -- Commune, 1871
THE ARC DE L’ETOILE.—The triumphal arch bears many scars, but none of
them of much importance. On the façade looking towards Courbevoie, the
great bas-relief by Etex, representing “War,” was struck by three
shells; the group of “Peace” received only the fragment of one. Here
and there, in the bas-relief representing the “Passage of the Bridge of
Areole,” and the “Taking of Alexandra,” some traces of balls are
visible. On the whole, no irremediable hum is done here. Rude’s
masterpiece, “The Marseillaise,” is untouched.
THE PALACE OF INDUSTRY.—Rumour says Courbet had, among other projects,
formed an idea of demolishing the Palace of Industry. The painted
windows of the great nave have received no serious injury. The
bas-relief of the main façade, picturing Industry and the Arts offering
their products to the universal exhibitions, has several of its figures
mutilated. The same has happened to the colossal group by
Diebolt—France offering laurel crowns to Art and Industry.
THE TUILERIES.—Felix Pyat, in the _Vengeur_, proposed converting the
Palace of the Tuileries into a school for the children of soldiers. He
says:—“They have taken possession by the work and activity that reign
there; a whole floor is filled with tools and activity, and converted
into workshops for the construction of messenger balloons. King Labour
is enthroned there. I recognised there among the workmen an exile of
the revolutionary Commune of London. The workmen and the proscribed at
the Tuileries! From the prison of London to the palace of the
Tuileries. It is well!” But in the heart of the Commune the soul of the
_Vengeur_ underwent a change, and insisted on the complete destruction
of the “infamous pile.”
The portion of the building overlooking the river was alone preserved.
The roofing is destroyed, but the façade is but little injured, the
only work of art damaged here being a pediment by M. Carrier-Belleuse,
representing “Agriculture.” Fortunately the Government of the Fourth of
September had sent all the most precious things to the Garde-Meuble
(Stores); but how can the magnificent Gobelins tapestry, the fine
ceilings, the works of Charles Lebrun, of Pierre Mignard, of Coypel, of
Francisque Meillet, of Coysevox, of Girardon, and of many others, and
the exquisite Salon des Roses be replaced?
The Tuileries burnt for three days, and ten days afterwards the ruins
blazed forth anew near the Pavillon de Flore. Not only did the
devouring fire threaten to destroy inestimable treasures, but on Monday
a number of men carrying slow matches, and led by a man named
Napias-Piquet, made all their preparations to set fire to several
points of the museum of the Louvre, and two of the guardians were shot.
This Napias-Piquet threatened to make of the whole quarter of the
Louvre one great conflagration. He was taken and shot, and in his
pocket was found a note of his breakfast of the preceding day,
amounting to 57 francs 80 centimes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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