Pavillon de Flore
[1] It was originally constructed in 1607–1610, during the reign of Henry IV, as the corner pavilion between the Tuileries Palace to the north and the Louvre's Grande Galerie to the east.
Arguably the most famous sculpture on the exterior of the Louvre, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Triumph of Flora, was added below the central pediment of the south façade at this time.
[10] The Committee of Public Safety was the principal and most renowned body of the Revolutionary Government, forming the de facto executive branch of France during the Reign of Terror.
The executive body was initially installed in the apartments of Marie Antoinette, situated on the first floor, but also gradually overtook the offices of Louis XVI.
[12] The pavilion underwent significant structural alteration during the reign of Napoleon III, who in 1861 authorized its complete demolition and reconstruction under the supervision of architect Hector-Martin Lefuel.
[14][11] Furthermore, Napoleon III commissioned sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux to create a piece that would evoke "Flore" (in English Flora), the Roman goddess who represents flowers and spring.
Since the Tuileries' axis was not aligned with the rest of the Louvre including the Grande Galerie, the Pavillon de Flore remains at a slight angle (6.33°) to the immediately adjacent wing.
After the Paris City Hall was also arsoned at the end of the Commune in May 1871, the Municipal Council of Paris and Prefect of the Seine first moved to the Luxembourg Palace across the Seine, but they had to leave that building in 1878 as the Senate prepared to move back from their previous temporary location in the Palace of Versailles, and relocated for several years in the aile de Flore of the Louvre.
[22][23]: 65 The museum then planned to expand into the Flore Wing but that was thwarted during World War I as the facility was used by the wartime bond issuance service.
In 1961, the Finance Ministry accepted to leave the Pavillon de Flore at the southwestern end of the Louvre building, as Henri Verne had recommended in his 1920s plan.
[25]: 721 Other apartments in the same pavilion are reserved for senior personnel tasked with the museum's security and maintenance, so that they stay close in case their presence is needed for an emergency.
It represents "Imperial France bringing light to the world and protecting Science, Agriculture and Industry" (La France impériale portant la lumière dans le monde et protégeant les Sciences, l'Agriculture et l'Industrie) and was explicitly inspired by Michelangelo's creations in the Medici Chapel of San Lorenzo, Florence.
They were manufactured in 1845 by the Cammi workshop in Carrara, installed in front of the Naval Library of Sevastopol, and seized there by General Aimable Pélissier in 1855 during the Crimean War.
[28] In 1877, the western sphinx was moved farther west when that entrance was replaced by the wider rue des Tuileries, now named after General Émile Lemonnier.
