Ganteaume lost

Family visiting a lost Gantheaume (Ganteaume) at Arc de Triumph, 2006

http://www.gregoryferdinandsen.com/CDG2001/Arc_de_Triumph.htm

The arch commemorates Napoleon's victories, evoking at the same time imperial glory and the fate of the Unknown Soldier, whose tomb lies beneath. A remembrance ceremony is held there on 11 November.

Napoleon's original intention was for a triumphal way to extend from the Arc de Triomph, past Le Louvre, place de la Bastille to place de la nation. By the end of the 18C, the square was already star-shaped despite having only five roads leading from it. At the center was a semicircular lawn.

The arch's proportions and the relative scale of the sculpted reliefs are appreciated from a distance. Chalgrin's undertaking, inspired by Antiquity, is truly colossal, measuring 50m high by 45m Wide.

The relief's, looking from the Champs-Élysées, visible in the photo's above:

	Lower Right: The Departure of the Volunteers in 1792, commonly called La Marseillaise
	Upper Right: General Marceau's Funeral
	Lower Left: The Triumph of 1810, celebrating the Treaty of Vienna
	Upper Left: The Battle of Abourkir

1806: Napoleon commissioned the construction of a giant arch in honor of the French fighting services. Chalgrin was appointed architect. It took two year to lay the foundations.

1810: With the Empress Marie-Louise due to make her triumphal entry along the Champs-Élysées and the arch only a few feet above ground, Chalgrin had to erect a dummy arch of painted canvas mounted on scaffolding, to preserve appearances.

1836: Construction, abandoned during the Restoration, was completed under Louis-Philippe.

1854: Haussmann redesigned the square, creating a further seven radiating avenues, while Hittorff planned the uniform façades which surround it.

1920: 11 November, an unknown soldier killed during the First World War was laid to rest...11 Nov 1923, the Flame of Remembrance was kindled.

Back to top