The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15

Rue de Vaugirard ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially fo ...

in the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect

Salomon de Brosse Salomon de Brosse (c. 1571 – 8 December 1626) was an early 17th-century French architect who moved away from late Mannerism to reassert the French Baroque architecture, French classical style and was a major influence on François Mansart. ...

to be the royal residence of the

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

, mother of King

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

. After the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

it was refashioned (1799–1805) by

Jean Chalgrin Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin (; 1739 – 21 January 1811) was a French architect, best known for his design for the Arc de Triomphe, Paris. Biography His neoclassic orientation was established from his early studies with the prophet of ne ...

into a legislative building and subsequently greatly enlarged and remodeled (1835–1856) by

Alphonse de Gisors Alphonse-Henri Guy de Gisors (3 September 1796 – 18 August 1866) was a 19th-century French architect, a member of the Gisors family of architects and prominent government administrators responsible for the construction and preservation of many ...

. The palace has been the seat of the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

s of the various French national legislatures (excepting only the unicameral National Assembly of the Second Republic) since the establishment of the during the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

; as such, it has been home to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the Fifth Republic since its establishment in 1958. Immediately west of the palace on the Rue de Vaugirard is the

Petit Luxembourg The Petit Luxembourg (; "Little Luxembourg") is an ''hôtel particulier'' and the official residence of the President of the French Senate. It is located at 17–17 bis, Rue de Vaugirard, just west of the Luxembourg Palace, which serves as the s ...

, now the residence of the

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...

; and slightly further west, the

Musée du Luxembourg The () is a museum at 19 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' Medici cycle by Peter Paul Rubens) an ...

, in the former

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

. On the south side of the palace, the formal

Luxembourg Garden The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie ...

presents a green

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, plats, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the ...

of gravel and lawn populated with statues and large basins of water where children sail model boats.

History

Palace as royal residence

After the death of Henry IV in 1610, his widow,

, became regent to her son, Louis XIII. Having acceded to a much more powerful position, she decided to erect a new palace for herself, adjacent to an old ''

hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

'' owned by François de Luxembourg,

Duc de Piney Duke of Piney () was a title in the Peerage of France. The holders were also sometimes called duc de Luxembourg, after the House of Luxembourg, from whom they were descended. History The duchy-peerage was created in 1581 for François de Luxem ...

, which is now called the

and is the residence of the president of the French Senate. Marie de' Medici desired to make a building similar to her native

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

; to this effect she had the architect Métezeau (either

Louis Métezeau Louis Métezeau (1559 – 18 August 1615) was a French architect.Babelon 1996, p. 345. Life and career Métezeau was born in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir, and died in Paris. He was the son of Thibault Métezeau, the brother of Clément II Métezeau and ...

or his brother,

Clément Métezeau Clement or Clément may refer to: People * Clement (name), a given name and surname * Saint Clement (disambiguation)#People Places * Clément, French Guiana, a town * Clement, Missouri, U.S. * Clement Township, Michigan, U.S. * Clement's ...

) sent to Florence to make detailed drawings of the building. She bought the Hôtel de Luxembourg and its fairly extensive domain in 1612 and commissioned the new building, which she referred to as her ''Palais Médicis'', in 1615. Its construction and furnishing formed her major artistic project, though nothing remains today of the interiors as they were created for her, save some architectural fragments reassembled in the ''Salle du Livre d'Or''. The suites of paintings she commissioned, in the subjects of which she expressed her requirements through her agents and advisers, are scattered among museums. Marie installed her household in 1625, while work on interiors continued. The apartments in the right wing on the western side were reserved for the Queen and the matching suite to the east, for her son, Louis XIII, when he was visiting (''floor plan''). The 24 Marie de' Medici cycle canvases, a series commissioned from

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

, were installed in the ''Galerie de Rubens'' on the main floor of the western wing. These paintings were executed between 1622 and 1625 and depicts Marie's struggles and triumphs in life. They are now visible in the Galerie Medicis of the Louvre, one of the treasures of the museum's Flemish paintings department. A series of paintings executed for her ''Cabinet doré'' ("gilded study") was identified by

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

in 1967. The gallery in the east wing had been intended for the display of paintings celebrating Henry IV and buildings housing stables and services were planned to either side of the pavilions flanking the entrance on the street, but these projects remained unfinished in 1631, when the Queen Mother was forced from court, following the "

Day of the Dupes Day of the Dupes () is the name given to a day in November 1630 on which the enemies of Cardinal Richelieu mistakenly believed that they had succeeded in persuading King Louis XIII of France to dismiss Richelieu from power. The incident is though ...

" in November. Louis XIII commissioned further decorations for the Palace from

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

and

Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was a Duchy of Brabant, Brabant-born French people, French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French art, French school. He was a founding member of the Académie royale de pein ...

. In 1642, Marie de' Medici bequeathed the Luxembourg to her second and favourite son,

Gaston, Duke of Orléans ''Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a . He later acquired the title ...

, who called it the Orléans Palace (''Palais d'Orléans'') but by popular will it was still known by its original name. Upon Gaston's death, the palace passed to his widow,

Marguerite of Lorraine Marguerite of Lorraine (22 July 1615 – 13 April 1672), Duchess of Orléans, was the wife of Gaston, younger brother of Louis XIII of France. As Gaston had married her in secret in defiance of the King, Louis had their marriage nullified when it ...

, then to his elder daughter by his first marriage, Anne, Duchess of Montpensier ''La Grande Mademoiselle''. In 1660, Anne de Montpensier sold the Luxembourg to her younger half-sister, Élisabeth Marguerite of Orléans, duchess of Guise who, in turn, gave it to her cousin, King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, in 1694. In 1715, the Luxembourg Palace became the residence of

Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Berry (born Marie Louise Élisabeth, Mademoiselle d'Orléans; 20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719) was Duchess of Berry by marriage to the French prince Charles, Duke of Berry. She is known affectionately by the mon ...

, Duchess of Berry. The widowed Duchess was notoriously promiscuous, having the reputation of a French

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...

, relentlessly driven by her unquenchable thirst for all pleasures of the flesh. The palace and its gardens thus became stages where the princess acted out her ambitions, enthroned like a queen surrounded by her court. In some of her more exclusive parties, Madame de Berry also played the leading part in elaborate "tableaux-vivants" that represented mythological scenes and in which she displayed her person impersonating Venus or Diana. According to various satirical songs which scurrilously evoked her amours "the Lady of the Luxembourg" hid several pregnancies, shutting herself up from society when about to give birth. Her taste for strong liquors and her sheer gluttony also scandalized the court. On 21 May 1717, Madame de Berry received

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

at the Luxembourg. She welcomed the visiting Tsar splendidly dressed in a magnificent sack-back gown which showcased her voluptuous bosom as well as her mischievous face but also helped conceal her swelling for she was then in an "interesting condition". On 28 February 1718, the Duchess of Berry threw a magnificent party for her visiting aunt,

Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

, duchess of Lorraine. The entire palace and its gardens were elaborately illuminated. The lavish banquet was followed by a masked ball. Madame de Berry made a dazzling appearance before her guests. She was then in the full splendour of her youthful beauty and pride and acted as if she were the very incarnation of the goddess of love, mirth, beauty and sensual pleasures. On 2 April 1719, after a gruelling four-day labour, shut up in a small room of her palace, the young widow was delivered of a still-born baby girl, supposedly fathered by her lieutenant of the guards, the Count of Riom. Berry's delivery was extremely troublesome and almost killed her. The Church refused her the Sacraments thus adding moral infamy to the physical tortures of the labouring woman.

Saint-Simon Saint-Simon or Saint Simon can refer to: Places Canada *Saint-Simon, New Brunswick, a settlement in Gloucester County, New Brunswick * Saint-Simon, Quebec, a municipality in southwestern Quebec on the Yamaska River in Les Maskoutains Regional Cou ...

wrote a very sarcastic description of this childbirth. Hoping to regain her health and undeceive the public that she had been confined, Madame de Berry left Paris and the Luxembourg Palace. She died in her

Château de la Muette The Château de la Muette () is a château located on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France, near the Porte de la Muette. It is the OECD's headquarters. Three châteaux have been located on the site since a hunting lodge was transfo ...

on 21 July 1719 and, according to Saint-Simon, was found to be again pregnant. In 1750, the palace became a museum, the forerunner of the Louvre, and was open two days a week until 1779. In 1778, the Luxembourg Palace was given to the

Count of Provence The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

by his brother

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

. During the French Revolution, it was briefly a prison, then the seat of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

, and in 1799, the home of the and the first residence of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, as

First Consul The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the French Empire on 18 May 1804. During this period, Napoleon Bonap ...

of the French Republic.

Palace as legislature seat

From 1799 to 1805, the architect

transformed the palace into a legislative building. He demolished the grand central staircase (''escalier d'honneur''), replacing it with a senate chamber on the first floor, which incorporated and destroyed Marie de' Medici's chapel on the garden side of the ''

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal or main block, or central building of a mansion, country or manor house, castle, or palace. It contains the rooms of principal business, the state apartments and the ceremonial or formal ...

''. Chalgrin also enclosed the flanking terraces, making space for a library. At the same time he created a neo-classical ''escalier d'honneur'' in the west wing, a single monumental flight enclosed by an Ionic colonnade and covered with a

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

, the construction of which resulted in the destruction of the long gallery that had formerly housed the cycle of paintings by Rubens.Ayers 2004, p. 131. Beginning in 1835, the architect

added a new garden wing parallel to the old ''corps de logis'', replicating the look of the original 17th-century façade so precisely that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance the old from the new. The new senate chamber was located in what would have been the courtyard area in between. Luxembourg -Salle conf

The new wing included a library (''bibliothèque'') with a cycle of paintings (1845–1847) by

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...

. In the 1850s, at the request of Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

, Gisors created the highly-decorated Salle des Conférences (inspired by the

Galerie d'Apollon The Galerie d'Apollon is a large and iconic room of the Louvre Palace, on the first (upper) floor of a wing known as the Petite Galerie. Its current setup was first designed in the 1660s. It has been part of the Louvre Museum since the 1790s, was ...

of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

), which influenced the nature of subsequent official interiors of the Second Empire, including those of the

Palais Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...

. During the German occupation of France (1940–44),

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

took over the palace as the headquarters of the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

in France and took for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms to accommodate his visits to the French capital. His subordinate, Luftwaffe Field Marshal

Hugo Sperrle Hugo Wilhelm Sperrle (7 February 1885 – 2 April 1953) was a Nazi Germany, German military aviator in World War I and a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field marshal, Field Marshal) in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Sperrle joined the German ...

, was also given an apartment in the Luxembourg Palace. He spent most of the war by enjoying the luxurious surroundings. "The Field Marshal's craving for luxury and public display ran a close second to that of his superior, Goering; he was also his match in corpulence", wrote Armaments Minister

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

after a visit to Sperrle in Paris. The palace was a designated "strong point" for German forces defending the city in August 1944, but thanks to the decision of Commanding General

Dietrich von Choltitz Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (; 9 November 1894 – 5 November 1966) was a German general. Sometimes referred to as the Saviour of Paris, he served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving i ...

to surrender the city rather than fight, the palace was only minimally damaged although furniture was stolen. On 7 November 1944, after the

Liberation of France The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...

, the

Provisional Consultative Assembly The Provisional Consultative Assembly (, ) was a governmental organ of Free France that operated under the aegis of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resistance movements, political parties, and ter ...

held its first meeting at the Luxembourg Palace. From 29 July to 15 October 1946, the Luxembourg Palace was the site of the talks of the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

Gallery

Paris Palais du Luxembourg façade s printemps 2014.jpg, View of the south façade and the garden basin File:Luco.jpg, View from the

Luxembourg Gardens The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie ...

File:Palais Luxembourg Sunset Edit.JPG, At sunset File:luxembourg palace panorama.jpg, Panorama of the palace and its gardens File:L'hémicycle du Sénat français en septembre 2009.jpg, Senate chamber File:Escalier d'honneur palais lux1.JPG, Grand staircase File:Luxembourg Palace - 2018-04-07.jpg, View from the south File:Palais du Luxembourg (44119496324).jpg, Clock

References

Notes

Sources

* Ayers, Andrew (2004). ''The Architecture of Paris''. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. . * BeauxArts éditions (2012), ''Palais du Luxembourg'', * Benevolo, Leonardo (1978). ''The Architecture of the Renaissance'', vol. 2. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. . * Collins, Peter (2004). ''Concrete: The Vision of a New Architecture'', 2nd edition. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. . * Hustin, Arthur (1904). ''Le Palais du Luxembourg''. Paris: P. Mouillot
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External links

"The Luxembourg Palace"
at the website of the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

{{Authority control 1615 establishments in France Baroque palaces in France Buildings and structures in the 6th arrondissement of Paris Châteaux in Paris French Parliament Gardens in Paris Defunct prisons in Paris Houses completed in 1615 Legislative buildings in Europe Palaces in Paris Royal residences in France Seats of national legislatures Terminating vistas in Paris Government buildings with domes Louis XVIII Napoleon