General Information

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch located in the Place du Carrousel on the site of the former Tuileries Palace. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon’s military victories of the year 1805. The more famous Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile nearby was designed in the same year, but it took thirty years to build, and it is about twice as massive.

Architecture: Highlights

The monument is 19 metres high, 23 metres wide, and 7.3 metres deep. The central arch is flanked by two smaller ones. Around its exterior are eight Corinthian columns of granite, topped by eight soldiers of the Empire. Napoleon’s diplomatic and military victories are commemorated by bas-reliefs executed in rose marble.

Architecture: Explained

The arch is, of course, derivative of the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire; in particular that of Septimius Severus in Rome. The subjects of the bas-reliefs devoted to the battles were selected by the director of the Napoleon Museum, located at the time in the Louvre, Vivant Denon, and designed by Charles Meynier.
The quadriga atop the arch is a copy of the so-called Horses of Saint Mark that adorn the top of the main door of the St Mark’s Basilica in Venice.

History: Highlights

It was originally surmounted by the famous horses of Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, which had been seized in 1798 by Napoleon. Seventeen years later, following the Battle of Waterloo and the Bourbon Restoration, France ceded the quadriga to the Austrian empire which had annexed Venice under the terms of the Congress of Vienna.

History: Explained

The Austrians immediately returned the statuary to its original place in Venice. The horses were replaced in 1828 by a quadriga sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio, depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot led by gilded Victories on both sides. The composition commemorates the Restoration of the Bourbons following Napoleon’s downfall.