THE PANTHEON, PARIS
It occupies a most commanding position near the Luxembourg Palace, and is one of the finest architectural structures of the city.
Palaces and Public Buildings.—Notable among the public buildings of Paris are its palaces.
The Louvre, a great series of buildings within which are two large courts, is now devoted to a museum which comprises splendid collections of sculpture, paintings, engravings, bronzes, pottery, Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities. The Venus de Milo, the Fettered Slaves of Michael Angelo, the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci, and a noble group of the works of Raphael, Titian, and Veronese are the chief treasures. In one gallery there are twenty-one large pictures by Rubens. The Salon Carré contains the most striking works of art.
The palace of the Tuileries was set on fire in 1871 by the Communists. The ruins have been removed, but a few of the architectural details have been preserved.
The Palace of the Luxembourg, south of the Seine, since 1879 the meeting-place of the French senate, was built by Marie de Médicis in the Florentine style. Close to it a gallery has been [484] constructed for the reception of the works of living artists acquired by the state.
The Palais de l’Élysée, situated in the Rue St. Honoré, with a large garden, is now the residence of the president of the republic. The Chambre des Députés—known under the Empire as the Palais du Corps Législatif—is the building in which the deputies meet.
The Hôtel de Ville, or municipal building, is situated in the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, formerly Place de Grève, on the right bank of the river. It was destroyed by the communists in 1871, but has now been re-erected on the same site with even greater magnificence. It is a very rich example of Renaissance architecture.
