Luxembourg Palace (Palais du Luxembourg)
The elegant Luxembourg Palace with its garden is one of the main attractions in the Left Bank area of Paris. It was built in 1615-1631 by architect Salomon de Brosse to the order of Queen Marie de Medici, the regent of young Louis XIII. The construction was completed by Jacques Lemercier. The Palace was named after the palace of the Duke of Luxembourg which previously occupied the site. Marie de Medici purchased it together with the neighboring households and ordered to use the site to build a new palace in the Italian style which was supposed to be reminiscent of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. However, the similarity was limited to the full rustication of the walls. Otherwise, the palace was a building typical of French architecture of the 17th century, combining traits of the Renaissance and the classically balanced French Baroque.
The southern façade of the main building with three avant-corps faces the garden. Two side wings in the northern part comprise the front yard which is closed by a single-storey gallery from the street. In the center of the gallery, there is the main entrance to the palace from the Rue de Vaugirard which is arranged as an elegant pavilion topped with a dome. Each floor of the palace has columns and pilasters of different orders. The building is topped by a high roof. Luxury apartments were set up inside of the Palace.
The Western wing had the famous gallery decorated with a series of 24 canvases by Rubens dedicated to the allegorical description of the life of Marie de Medici. The walls of the gallery were decorated with paintings depicting flowers, сameos and landscapes. The Luxembourg Garden had a regular layout with a large parterre set in front of the southern façade of the Palace. The visitors were attracted by the Medici Fountain shaped as a Tuscan portico. In the 17th-18th centuries, the Palace was owned by different royal family members. In 1715, the Regent Philippe, the Duke of Orléans handed the Palace to his eldest daughter Duchess of Berry. In the early 18th century, the Palace and the garden appeared to be somewhat old-fashioned as noted in Germain Briсe’s Description of Paris dated 1717.
Peter I visited the Duchess of Berry in the Luxembourg Palace on May 11/22, 1717. His Travel Journal concisely reports that “On the 11th day, His Majesty visited Madame Duchess of Berry”. French journalists provided much more details about the visit. The Nouveau Mercure publisher reported that the Tsar had arrived in the Luxembourg Palace at 6 o’clock in the evening. The Tsar was welcomed by the guard of honor on the staircase and in the state halls of the Palace. The young Duchess dressed in a violet dress covered with silver flowers and her splendid entourage greeted the Tsar at the door of her reception room. The Tsar kissed her twice as a greeting. After a 30-minute talk, the Tsar stated his willingness to view the palace rooms. He was greatly impressed by the Rubens gallery and was particularly touched by the Birth of the Dauphin. Besides, the Tsar paid attention to Van Dyke’s Venus Asking Vulcan for the Armour of Aeneas and Guido Reni’s painting of David. Then, the Tsar viewed the Palace from outside and the garden. He walked a few rounds around the garden where he stayed until 7 o’clock.
Marie Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, the Duchess of Berry, a young widow of the Duke of Berry, was in bad repute among Parisian gossipers, being referred to in the vernacular as “Messalina du Berry”. She was believed to indulge in gluttony and carnal pleasures at her residence. In his manuscript Gazette de la Régence, Jean Buvat, who was a witness of the Tsar’s meeting with the Regent’s daughter, wrote: “Madame de Berry seemed to be plump (a hint to the notorious pregnancy of the young widow — S.M.) as a tower but, at the same time, beautiful and fresh”. In the 19th century, a legend grew up claiming that, while in Paris, the Russian Tsar had secret drinking parties with the Regent and the Duchess of Berry.
The Luxembourg Palace served as the residence of various representatives of the Royal family for one hundred and fifty years. During the French Revolution it was nationalized and became a prison for aristocrats. Then it was used as the seat of the French Directory and the Senate. With a few breaks, the Luxembourg Palace has been home to the Senate since the Napoleonic era to this date. In the 19th century, the Palace was rebuilt several times.
