Pavillon de Flore

The Pavillon de Flore forms the southwestern end of the Louvre Palace in Paris and sits right on the Pont Royal. Originally built between 1607 and 1610 under King Henry IV, the building served as a corner pavilion linking the Grande Galerie of the Louvre with the Tuileries Palace. The richly ornamented façade you see today, in the Second Empire style, dates only from a complete remodeling by the architect Hector-Martin Lefuel between 1864 and 1868. Particularly well known is Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's sculpture "The Triumph of Flora," mounted beneath the pediment of the south façade. After the Tuileries Palace was destroyed by the Paris Commune in 1871, the pavilion received a new north façade resembling the south one. Today the building is an integral part of the Louvre Museum, housing sculptures on the ground floor and paintings on the second floor.

The pavilion's history is closely interwoven with France's political and cultural events. During the French Revolution it was briefly renamed the Pavillon de l'Égalité and served as a meeting place for various committees, including the notorious Committee of Public Safety. Later, Pope Pius VII used the building as his lodging during the coronation of Napoleon I. In the 20th century the pavilion housed various ministries before being handed over to the museum for good in the 1960s. Today it is also home to the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France, which emerged in 1998 from the merger of several laboratories.

Visitors can admire this architectural ensemble in the heart of Paris, which, despite its historical significance, is still full of life today. Besides the museum exhibitions, the upper floors still contain a few staff apartments for museum personnel, which can be used in an emergency. The location on the banks of the Seine provides an impressive setting in which the building's historic splendor blends with the urban atmosphere of Paris. The pavilion thus remains not only a place of art but also a witness to the eventful history of the French capital.