General Information

A Baroque edifice commissioned in 1615 by Marie de Médicis and adjoining Jardin du Luxembourg. It is currently the seat of the French Senate. It owes its name to an old hôtel particulier owned by François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Piney-Luxembourg (now called Petit Luxembourg), which is home to the president of French Senate.

History: Highlights

Marie de Médicis wanted to live in a palace similar to her native Florence’s Palazzo Pitti. The architect Salomon de Brosse designed it and she painstakingly decorated it with art, including canvasses by Rubens. However, she did not get to enjoy it as her son, Louis XIII, banished her for plotting to overthrow him.

History: Explained

Marie de Médicis installed her household in 1625, but following the ‘Day of the Dupes’ in November 1631, she was forced from court and went away to live in Cologne.Louis XIII commissioned further decorations for the Palace from Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne. In 1642, Marie bequeathed the Luxembourg to her second son, Gaston d’Orléans. Upon Gaston’s death, the palace passed to his widow, Marguerite de Lorraine, then to his elder daughter by his first marriage, Anne, duchesse de Montpensier, La Grande Mademoiselle. In 1660, Anne de Montpensier sold the Luxembourg to her younger half-sister, Élisabeth Marguerite d’Orléans, duchesse de Guise who, in turn, gave it to her cousin, king Louis XIV, in 1694.
In 1715, the palace became the residence of Marie Louise Elisabeth d’Orleans, Duchess of Berry. The widowed Duchess was notoriously promiscuous, having the reputation of a French Messalina relentlessly driven by her unquenchable thirst for all pleasures of the flesh. The Luxembourg palace and its gardens thus became stages where the radiantly beautiful princess acted out her ambitions, enthroned like a queen surrounded by her court.
In 1750, the palace became a museum, but was then given to the comte de Provence by his brother Louis XVI. During the French Revolution, it was briefly a prison, then the seat of the French Directory and later the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. It has continued its senatorial role, with brief interruptions, ever since.
In the 19th century the palace was extensively remodeled, with a new garden façade by Alphonse de Gisors, and a cycle of paintings by Eugène Delacroix that was added to the library.
During the German occupation of Paris (1940–1944), Hermann Göring took over the palace as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France and used it himself when he visited Paris. His subordinate, Luftwaffe Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle, was also given an apartment in the Luxembourg Palace. 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 to surrender the city rather than fight, the palace was only minimally damaged.
From 29 July to 15 October 1946, the Luxembourg Palace was the site of the talks of Paris Peace Conference.