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66-673: The Palais-Royal is now the seat of the Ministry of Culture , the Conseil d'État and the Constitutional Council . The central Palais-Royal Garden (Jardin du Palais-Royal) serves as a public park; its arcade houses shops. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, the palace was the personal residence of Cardinal Richelieu . The architect Jacques Lemercier began his design in 1629; Construction commenced in 1633 and

132-579: A balustrade and a view of the sky. The General Assembly chamber was first a chapel, then, under Price Napoleon, a gallery of paintings. It has been changed more than any of the other rooms in the Council. At one end is a long table, with a seat in the center for the Vice President of the Assembly, who chairs the meetings, and the six presidents of the sections of Council. The decoration of the room

198-458: A broader ministry in charge of several governmental sectors. Hence, the ministry has gone through a number of different names: The Ministry of Culture is made up of a variety of internal divisions, including: The Ministry has access to one inter-ministerial division: The Ministry also runs three "delegations" (administrative boards): Finally, the Ministry shares in the management of

264-687: A general site plan, showing the Palais-Royal before these alterations were made. When the Duke of Orléans died in 1701, his son became the head of the House of Orléans . The new Duke and Duchess of Orléans took up residence at the Palais-Royal. Two of their daughters, Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans , later the Duchess of Modena , and Louise Diane d'Orléans , later the Princess of Conti , were born there. At

330-570: A key role to play in the sponsoring of artistic production and that the arts were linked to national prestige was found in France from at least the 16th century on. During the pre-revolutionary period, these ideas are apparent in such things as the creation of the Académie française , the Académie de peinture et de sculpture and other state-sponsored institutions of artistic production, and through

396-752: A second wife, the Princess Palatine , who preferred to live in the Château de Saint-Cloud . Saint-Cloud thus became the main residence of her eldest son and the heir to the House of Orléans , Philippe Charles d'Orléans known as the Duke of Chartres . The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture occupied the Palais Brion from 1661 to 1691 and shared it with the Académie Royale d'Architecture from 1672. The royal collection of antiquities

462-452: A social highlight. In 1692, on the occasion of the marriage of the duke of Chartres to Françoise Marie de Bourbon , Mademoiselle de Blois , a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, the King deeded the Palais-Royal to his brother. The new couple did not occupy the northeast wing, where Anne of Austria had originally lived, but instead chose to reside in the Palais Brion. For

528-563: Is another small square, Place André Malraux. The Council of State , created by Napoleon in 1799, inherited many of the functions of the earlier Royal Council , acting both as a consultant to the government and a kind of Supreme Court. It was installed in the Palais-Royal in 1875. The Conseil has its own courtyard, facing out onto the Place du Palais-Royal and the Rue de Rivoli. Inside is the grand horseshoe stairway of honor, which curves upward along

594-659: Is particularly rich and varied, with medallions and cameos and allegorical paintings illustrating the various codes of law and the administrative departments. Below these are four more recent large murals, installed between 1916 and 1926, on the theme of France at Work. They depict agriculture (workers in the fields), commerce (the Port of Marseilles), urban labor (Paris workers maintaining the Place de la Concorde ), and intellectual labor. Ministry of Culture (France) The Ministry of Culture ( French : Ministère de la Culture )

660-794: Is still there. In 1786, a noon cannon was set up by a philosophical amateur, set on the Paris meridian , in which the sun's noon rays, passing through a lens, lit the cannon's fuse. The noon cannon is still fired at the Palais-Royal, though most of the ladies for sale have disappeared, those who inspired the Abbé Delille 's lines: Dans ce jardin on ne rencontre Ni prés, ni bois, ni fruits, ni fleurs. Et si l'on y dérègle ses mœurs, Au moins on y règle sa montre. ("In this garden one encounters neither meadows, nor woods, nor fruits, nor flowers. And, if one upsets one's morality, at least one may reset one's watch.") The Cirque du Palais-Royal, constructed in

726-673: Is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the monuments historiques . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architectural, literary, televisual and cinematographic) on national soil and abroad. Its budget is mainly dedicated to the management of the Archives Nationales (six national sites and hundred decentralised storage facilities) and

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792-514: Is the Hall of the Tribunal of Conflicts, a kind of courtroom installed in the former dining room of Duchess of Orleans, built by the architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry in 1753. It still preserves much of its original decoration, with pilasters and columns, and decorative medallions of putti representing the four seasons and the four elements. The ceiling has a trompe l'oeil painting from 1852 depicting

858-797: The Festival d'Avignon , the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles , the Joconde (online database of objects in French museums), the Base Mérimée (database of listed heritage monuments), and the Maître d'art program. Acad%C3%A9mie Royale d%27Architecture The Académie Royale d'Architecture ( French: [akademi ʁwajal d‿aʁʃitɛktyʁ] ; English: "Royal Academy of Architecture" )

924-749: The Gaullist aim of elevating the "grandeur" ('greatness') of post-war France. To this end, he created numerous regional cultural centres throughout France and actively sponsored the arts. Malraux's artistic tastes included the modern arts and the avant-garde, but on the whole he remained conservative. Under President François Mitterrand the Minister of Culture was Jack Lang who showed himself to be far more open to popular cultural production, including jazz , rock and roll , rap music , graffiti , bande dessinées , fashion and food . His famous phrase "économie et culture, même combat" ('economy and culture: it's

990-535: The Grand Prix de Rome in architecture. The winner was typically required to study for several years at the Académie de France in Rome . In 1763 Jacques-François Blondel established less ambitious monthly competitions, which encouraged students to devote more time to their school work during their time in their supervisor's studios. The eight members upon the academy's founding in 1671 were: Subsequent edicts of

1056-585: The National Centre of Cinema (Centre national de la cinématographie, CNC), a public institution. The Alliance française is run by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs . On the national level, the Ministry also runs: The Ministry of Culture is responsible for, or a major sponsor of, a number of annual cultural activities, including the Fête de la Musique , the Maison de la culture de Grenoble ,

1122-541: The Paris Opera at that time). The Opera's theatre was destroyed by fire in 1763, but was rebuilt to the designs of architect Pierre-Louis Moreau Desproux on a site slightly further to the east (where the rue de Valois is located today) and reopened in 1770. This second theatre continued to be used by the Opera until 1781, when it was also destroyed by fire, but this time it was not rebuilt. Moreau Desproux also designed

1188-576: The Théâtre des Variétés-Amusantes , formerly on the boulevard du Temple but since 1 January 1785 playing in a temporary theatre in the gardens of the Palais-Royal. This company changed its name to Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 15 December 1789, and later moved into the new theatre upon its completion, where they opened on 15 May 1790. On 25 April 1791 the anti-royalist faction of the Comédie-Française , led by Talma , left that company's theatre on

1254-617: The rue Saint-Honoré (on a site just to the west of what is now the rue de Valois ). It was built from 1637 to 1641 to designs by Lemercier and was initially known as the Great Hall of the Palais-Cardinal . This theatre was later used by the troupe of Molière beginning in 1660, by which time it had become known as the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. After Molière 's death in 1673 the theatre was taken over by Jean-Baptiste Lully , who used it for his Académie Royale de Musique (the official name of

1320-727: The Cour d'Honneur and the Palais-Royal Garden. Following the July Revolution of 1830 when the Duke of Orléans ascended the throne as Louis-Phillipe I, the palace remained the principal residence of the new monarch. In the Revolution of 1848 , a Paris mob attacked and looted the royal residence Palais-Royal, particularly the art collection of King Louis-Philippe. During the Second French Republic ,

1386-490: The Duchess's maids and staff. Several of the women who later came to be favourites to King Louis XIV were from her household: Louise de La Vallière , who gave birth there to two sons of the King, in 1663 and 1665; Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan , who supplanted Louise; and Angélique de Fontanges , who was in service to the second Duchess of Orléans. The court gatherings at the Palais-Royal were famed all around

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1452-538: The Duke's father. Fontaine's most significant work included the western wing of the Cour d'Honneur, the Aile Montpensier, and with Charles Percier , what was probably the most famous of Paris's covered arcades, the Galerie d'Orléans, enclosing the Cour d'Honneur on its north side. Both were completed in 1830. The Galerie d'Orléans was demolished in the 1930s, but its flanking rows of columns still stand between

1518-611: The Grande Galerie along the rue de Richelieu (1719–20; visible on the 1739 Turgot map of Paris ). All of this work was lost, when the Palais Brion was demolished in 1784 for the construction of the Salle Richelieu , now hosting the Comédie-Française . After the Regency, the social life of the palace became much more subdued. Louis XV moved the court back to Versailles and Paris was again ignored. The same happened with

1584-476: The Louvre still lacked a roof at the level of the attic. The attic roof was finally added under Napoleon . The Académie d'Architecture was suppressed in 1793, but later revived and merged in 1816 into the Académie des Beaux-Arts , together with the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture (Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded 1648) and the Académie de Musique (Academy of Music, founded in 1669). In addition,

1650-670: The Ministry of Culture and Communication. The two wings of the building have triangular fronts filled with sculpture, inspired by classical architecture and typical of the Louis XIV style . On the west side of the Council building is Place Colette , and the Salle Richelieu of the Comédie Française . Behind that are the offices of the Constitutional Council. On the left side of the Salle Richelieu

1716-469: The Palais-Royal as their main Paris residence. The following year the new duchess gave birth to a daughter, Marie Louise d'Orléans , inside the palace. She created the ornamental gardens of the palace, which were said to be among the most beautiful in Paris. Under the new ducal couple, the Palais-Royal would become the social center of the capital. The palace was redecorated and new apartments were created for

1782-425: The Palais-Royal became one of the first of the new style of shopping arcades and became a popular venue for the wealthy to congregate, socialise and enjoy their leisure time. The redesigned palace complex became one of the most important marketplaces in Paris. It was frequented by the aristocracy, the middle classes, and the lower orders. It had a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation (revolving around

1848-629: The Palais-Royal face south to the Place du Palais-Royal and the Louvre across the Rue de Rivoli . The central part of the palace is occupied by the Conseil-d'État, or State Council. It has three floors, and is topped by a low cupola and a rounded pediment filled with sculpture. Two arched passages under the central building lead to the Courtyard of Honor behind. In the east wing, to the right, are offices of

1914-537: The Palais-Royal. Louis d'Orléans succeeded his father as the new duke of Orléans in 1723. He and his son Louis Philippe lived at the other family residence in Saint-Cloud, which had been empty since the death of the Princess Palatine in 1722. Claude Desgots redesigned the gardens of the Palais-Royal in 1729. In 1752 Louis Philippe I succeeded his father as the duke of Orléans. The Palais-Royal

1980-422: The academy members on Mondays and mathematics lectures on Wednesdays (B3), and another for public lectures on architecture on Mondays (B4). There was also a large room for the display of architectural models (B5). The rooms for the secretary of the academy were in the mezzanine level, reached via the staircase. The academy quarters were temporarily roofed at the level of the main floor ( premier étage ), since much of

2046-412: The adjacent surviving entrance façades of the Palais-Royal. At the request of Louis Philippe II two new theatres were constructed in the Palais-Royal complex shortly after the fire. Both of these new theatres were designed by Victor Louis , the architect who also designed the shopping galleries facing the garden (see below). The first theatre, which opened on 23 October 1784, was a small puppet theatre in

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2112-572: The apartments of the Duchess on the ground floor in 1716 and to decorate the Grand Appartement of the Palais Brion in the light and lively style Régence that foreshadowed the Rococo , as well as the Regent's more intimate petits appartements . Oppenord also made changes to the Grande Galerie of the Palais Brion and created a distinctive Salon d'Angle, which connected the Grand Appartement to

2178-1062: The building of the Bibliothèque nationale , the new Louvre , the Arab World Institute , the Musée d'Orsay , the Opéra-Bastille , the " Grande Arche " of La Défense (the Parisian business quarter), the new seat of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance , the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre , and the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie and Cité de la Musique , both in the Parc de la Villette . The Ministry of Jacques Toubon

2244-515: The capital as well as all of France. It was at these parties that the crème de la crème of French society came to see and be seen. Guests included the main members of the royal family like the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria ; Anne, Duchess of Montpensier , the Princes of Condé and of Conti . Philippe's favourites were also frequent visitors. After Henrietta Anne died in 1670 the Duke took

2310-399: The center of the garden, has been described as "a huge half-subterranean spectacle space of food, entertainments, boutiques, and gaming that ran the length of the park and was the talk of the capital." It was destroyed by fire on 15 December 1798. Inspired by the souks of Arabia, the Galerie de Bois, a series of wooden shops linking the ends of the Palais-Royal and enclosing the south end of

2376-488: The chaos that characterised the noisy, dirty streets; a warm, dry space away from the elements; and a safe-haven where people could socialise and spend their leisure time. Promenading in the arcades became a popular eighteenth century pastime for the emerging middle classes. From the 1780s to 1837, the palace was once again the centre of Parisian political and social intrigue and the site of the most popular cafés. The historic restaurant " Le Grand Véfour ", which opened in 1784,

2442-568: The convenience of the bride, new apartments were built and furnished in the wing facing east on the rue de Richelieu . It was at this time that Philippe commissioned a Grande Galerie along the rue de Richelieu for his famous Orleans Collection of paintings, which was easily accessible to the public. Designed by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart , it was constructed around 1698–1700 and painted with Virgilian subjects by Coypel . The cost of this reconstruction totaled about 400,000 livres . Hardouin-Mansart's assistant, François d'Orbay , prepared

2508-626: The cultural policies of Louis XIV 's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert . The modern post of Minister of Culture was created by Charles de Gaulle in 1959 and the first officeholder was the writer André Malraux . Malraux was responsible for realising the goals of the droit à la culture ('right to culture'), an idea which had been incorporated in the Constitution of France and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), by democratising access to culture, while also achieving

2574-469: The death of Louis XIV in 1715, his five-year-old great-grandson succeeded him. The Duke of Orléans became Regent for the young Louis XV , setting up the country's government at the Palais-Royal, while the young king lived at the nearby Tuileries Palace . The Palais-Royal housed the magnificent Orleans Collection of some 500 paintings, which was arranged for public viewing until it was sold abroad in 1791. He commissioned Gilles-Marie Oppenord to redesign

2640-475: The death of Louise Henriette, her husband secretly married his mistress, the witty marquise de Montesson , and the couple lived at the Château de Sainte-Assise where he died in 1785. Just before his death, he completed the sale of the Château de Saint-Cloud to Queen Marie Antoinette . Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans was born at Saint-Cloud and later moved to the Palais-Royal and lived there with his wife,

2706-561: The garden, was first opened in 1786. For Parisians, who lived in the virtual absence of pavements, the streets were dangerous and dirty; the arcade was a welcome addition to the streetscape as it afforded a safe place where Parisians could window shop and socialise. Thus, the Palais-Royal began what architectural historian Bertrand Lemoine  [ fr ] describes as "l’Ère des passages couverts" (the Arcade Era), which transformed European shopping habits between 1786 and 1935. During

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2772-518: The garden: the rue de Montpensier on the west, rue de Beaujolais to the north, and rue de Valois on the east. He commercialised the new complex by letting out the area under the colonnades to retailers and service-providers and in 1784 the shopping and entertainment complex opened to the public. Over a decade or so, sections of the Palais were transformed into shopping arcades that became the centre of 18th-century Parisian economic and social life. Though

2838-429: The heirs of Cardinal Richelieu. Louis had it connected to the Palais-Royal. It was at the Palais Brion that Louis had his mistress Louise de La Vallière stay while his affair with Madame de Montespan was still an official secret. Henrietta Anne was married to Louis' younger brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans in the palace chapel on 31 March 1661. After their marriage, Louis XIV allowed his brother and wife to use

2904-588: The left bank (at that time known as the Théâtre de la Nation, but today as the Odéon ), and joined the company on the rue de Richelieu, which promptly changed its name to Théâtre Français de la rue de Richelieu. With the founding of the French Republic in September 1792 the theatre's name was changed again, to Théâtre de la République. In 1799 the players of the split company reunited at the Palais-Royal, and

2970-472: The main part of the palace ( corps de logis ) remained the private Orléans seat, the arcades surrounding its public gardens had 145 boutiques, cafés, salons, hair salons, bookshops, museums, and countless refreshment kiosks. These retail outlets sold luxury goods such as fine jewelry, furs, paintings and furniture to the wealthy elite. Stores were fitted with long glass windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies. Thus,

3036-475: The night lingered, and smart gambling casinos were lodged in second-floor quarters. The Marquis de Sade referred to the grounds in front of the palace in his Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795) as a place where progressive pamphlets were sold. Upon the execution of the Duke, the palace's ownership lapsed to the state, whence it was called Palais du Tribunat. The Comédie-Française , the state theatre company,

3102-527: The northwest corner of the gardens at the intersection of the Galerie de Montpensier and the Galerie de Beaujolais . Initially it was known as the Théâtre des Beaujolais, then as the Théâtre Montansier, after which Victor Louis enlarged it for the performance of plays and operas. Later, beginning with the political turmoil of the Revolution , this theatre was known by a variety of other names. It

3168-448: The palace was briefly renamed the "Palais-National". During the Second French Empire of Napoleon III , the Palais-Royal became home to the cadet branch of the Bonaparte family, represented by Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte , Napoleon III's cousin. A lavish dining room was constructed in the Second Empire style , and is now known as the Salle Napoleon of the Council of State. During the final days of Paris Commune , on May 24, 1871,

3234-415: The palace was the residence of the exiled Henrietta Maria and Henrietta Anne Stuart , wife and daughter of the deposed King Charles I of England . The two had escaped England in the midst of the English Civil War and were sheltered by Henrietta Maria's nephew, King Louis XIV. The Palais Brion, a separate section near the rue de Richelieu to the west of the Palais-Royal, was purchased by Louis XIV from

3300-423: The palace, seen as a symbol of aristocracy, was set afire by the Communards, but suffered less damage than other government buildings. As a result, it became the temporary (and later permanent) home of several state institutions, including the Conseil d'Etat , or State Council. Today, the Palais-Royal is the home of the Conseil d'État , the Constitutional Council , and the Ministry of Culture . The buildings of

3366-407: The regional Maisons de la culture (culture centres). Its main office is in the Palais-Royal in the 1st arrondissement of Paris on the Rue de Valois . It is headed by the Minister of Culture, a cabinet member. The current officeholder has been Rachida Dati since 11 January 2024. Deriving from the Italian and Burgundian courts of the Renaissance , the notion that the state had

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3432-420: The revolutionary period, Philippe d'Orléans became known as Philippe Égalité and ruled at the Palais de l'Égalité, as it was known during the more radical phase of the Revolution . He had made himself popular in Paris when he opened the gardens of the palace to all Parisians. In one of the shops around the garden Charlotte Corday bought the knife she used to stab Jean-Paul Marat . Along the galeries , ladies of

3498-436: The salons, cafés, and bookshops), shameless debauchery (it was a favorite haunt of local prostitutes), as well as a hotbed of Freemasonic activity . Designed to attract the genteel middle class, the Palais-Royal sold luxury goods at relatively high prices. However, prices were never a deterrent, as these new arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from

3564-431: The same fight') is representative of his commitment to cultural democracy and to active national sponsorship and participation in cultural production. In addition to the creation of the Fête de la Musique and overseeing the French Revolution bicentennial (1989), he was in charge of the massive architectural program of the François Mitterrand years (the so-called Grands travaux ; 'Great Works') that gave permission for

3630-424: The theatre officially became the Comédie-Française, also commonly known as the Théâtre-Français, names which it retains to this day. Louis Philippe II also had Victor Louis build six-story apartment buildings with ground-floor colonnades facing the three sides of the palace garden between 1781 and 1784. On the outside of these wings three new streets were constructed in front of the houses that had formerly overlooked

3696-416: The traditions of the Académie d'Architecture were maintained and spread by the architecture section of the École des Beaux-Arts up to 1968, when the French government completely reorganized architectural education. The Académie des Beaux-Arts is now one of the five academies of the Institut de France . From 1720 to 1968, the Académie Royale d'Architecture and its successors held annual competitions for

3762-410: The walls to the landing on the first floor. It is decorated with theatrical effects, including ionic columns, and blind arches giving the illusion of bays. A trompe-l'oeil painting in an archway appears to give a view of a classical statue, above which putti hold wreathes around a bust of Cardinal Richelieu . The stairway was made by Pierre Contant d'Ivry in 1765. The most lavish room of the Council

3828-400: The wealthy Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon whom he had married in 1769. The duke controlled the Palais-Royal from 1780 onward. The couple's eldest son, Louis-Philippe III d'Orléans , was born there in 1773. Louis Philippe II succeeded his father as the head of the House of Orléans in 1785. The Palais-Royal had contained one of the most important public theatres in Paris, in the east wing on

3894-400: Was a French learned society founded in 1671. It had a leading role in influencing architectural theory and education, not only in France, but throughout Europe and the Americas from the late 17th century to the mid-20th. The Académie Royale d'Architecture was founded on December 30, 1671, by Louis XIV , king of France under the impulsion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert . Its first director

3960-519: Was completed in 1639. The gardens were begun in 1629 by Jean Le Nôtre (father of André Le Nôtre ), Simon Bouchard, and Pierre I Desgots , to a design created by Jacques Boyceau . Upon Richelieu's death in 1642 the palace became the property of the King and acquired the new name Palais-Royal . After Louis XIII died the following year, it became the home of the Queen Mother Anne of Austria and her young sons Louis XIV and Philippe, duke of Anjou , along with her advisor Cardinal Mazarin . From 1649,

4026-404: Was converted to a café with shows in 1812, but reopened as a theatre in 1831, when it acquired the name Théâtre du Palais-Royal , by which it is still known today. Louis Philippe II's second theatre was larger and located near the southwest corner of the complex, on the rue de Richelieu . He originally intended it for the Opera, but that company refused to move into it. Instead he offered it to

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4092-407: Was installed there under the care of the art critic and official court historian André Félibien , who was appointed in 1673. About 1674 the Duke of Orléans had André Le Nôtre redesign the gardens of the Palais-Royal. After the dismissal of Madame de Montespan and the arrival of her successor, Madame de Maintenon , who forbade any lavish entertainment at Versailles , the Palais-Royal was again

4158-588: Was notable for a number of laws (the " Toubon Laws ") enacted for the preservation of the French language , both in advertisements (all ads must include a French translation of foreign words) and on the radio (35% of songs on French radio stations must be in French), ostensibly in reaction to the presence of English. The following people were appointed Minister of Culture of France: Since the French constitution does not identify specific ministers (merely speaking of "the minister in charge of" this or that), each government may label each ministry as they wish, or even have

4224-422: Was reorganised by Napoleon in the décret de Moscou on 15 October 1812, which contains 87 articles. After the Restoration of the Bourbons , at the Palais-Royal the young Alexandre Dumas obtained employment in the office of the powerful Duke of Orléans , who regained control of the palace during the Restoration. The Duke had Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine draw up plans to complete work left unfinished by

4290-449: Was soon the scene of the notorious debaucheries of Louise Henriette de Bourbon who had married to Louis Philippe in 1743. New apartments (located in what is now the northern section of the Rue-de-Valois wing) were added for her in the early 1750s by the architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry . She died at the age of thirty-two in 1759. She was the mother of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , later known as Philippe Égalité . A few years after

4356-442: Was the mathematician and engineer François Blondel (1618–1686), and the secretary was André Félibien (1619 –1695). The academy was housed in the Louvre for most of its existence, and included a school of architecture. Its members met weekly. Jacques-François Blondel describes the academy quarters in his Architecture françoise of 1756. The main rooms were on the ground floor and included two lecture halls, one for meetings of

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