30 years of the scandalous pyramid of the Louvre: Desecration of history or the aesthetics of harmony

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The pyramid in front of the Louvre appeared thirty years ago on the initiative of just one person - and even before the construction was completed, it became the subject of fierce controversy. Some considered the glass structure an outrage against the history of the Louvre, others defended the project, calling the mixture of old and new harmonious and justified. Despite the seeming simplicity of the idea, the pyramid, even after several decades, continues to throw questions to researchers about the reasons and meaning of its appearance in the center of Paris.

The Grand Louvre and the anniversary of the Great French Revolution

The Louvre dates back to the 12th century, when it was a fortress-castle, built to protect the city from attacks from the Seine. Several centuries later, it began to function as a royal residence, and since 1793 - from the time of the Revolution - a museum has already been located in the premises of the Louvre.

Before the start of work, one wing of the building - the Richelieu wing - was occupied by the French Ministry of Finance. For the bicentennial anniversary of the Great French Revolution, changes were being made in the historical part of the city. According to the project proposed by President François Mitterrand, the entire building of the Louvre was planned to be used to house the museum's exposition, and to better organize the entrance of visitors to create an underground lobby that would unite all three wings. The first impression of the glass structure against the background of the Baroque buildings was akin to shock - too It was a bold attempt to combine such different eras by placing a futuristic structure right next to the walls of an old Parisian palace.

The project to create a new look for the Louvre was given to the Chinese-American architect Yu Ming Pei. It was he who created a glass pyramid above the main entrance to the museum - and as to whose idea was embodied in this bold project, the versions differ. Immediately after the publication of information about the project, a scandal erupted, the president was accused of striving to violate the harmony of buildings in the historical center, to create something like Disneyland or Luna Park next to the palace of the 17th century. The future pyramid was compared to a "wart on a noble face." Mitterrand also got it for the choice of an architect - "a foreigner will dictate to Paris what it should be!" Nevertheless, the project was put into operation, the reconstruction of Napoleon's Court was carried out for five years.

Project and construction process

In the process of work, Yu Ming Pei had to solve serious technological puzzles regarding the composition of glass - for maximum transparency, as well as regarding its color, alloy material. The prototype of the glass structure was the Cheops pyramid, during the creation of which the Egyptians adhered to the rule of the "golden section".

In total, 673 glass plates were used during the construction, 603 in the form of a rhombus and 70 triangular. The misconception regarding the number of transparent elements of the pyramid arose back in the eighties, when the number "666" - "the number of the beast" was first announced. For opponents of building the pyramid, this was a serious argument - even at the present time, when the official data have been clarified, in some conspiracy theories it is the "devilish" version of the calculation that is accepted. The height of the pyramid was 21 m 64 cm.

The opening of the pyramid took place on March 29, 1989. As planned, the glass pyramid provided ample natural light for the underground lobby, which houses the main entrance to the museum. Three more small pyramids with a height of 5 m were also built not far from the large one for the purpose of additional lighting. The number of tourists visiting the Louvre has grown steadily, with over ten million visitors in 2018.

It is curious that when looking at Napoleon's Courtyard at night, when the pyramids are illuminated by various kinds of illumination, it is a truly impressive sight. As for the day, it is hard not to admit that the pyramid looks strange, even alien, despite the fact that over the thirty years that have passed since the opening of the pyramid, it would seem that the opinion has been established that the glass structure looks harmonious and interesting.

Negative reviews about the pyramid subside, a parallel is drawn with the Eiffel Tower, which at first received a similar flurry of criticism - the new "face of the Louvre" has become familiar. But does it really meet the aesthetic needs of Parisians and connoisseurs of beauty from other cities and countries? If not, then what could be the true reasons for the construction of such a structure not typical for a European city?

What's wrong with the Louvre pyramid?

The pyramid is directly related to Napoleon Bonaparte, whose name is the square in front of the museum and with whose participation the Louvre began as a treasury of art objects. An important stage in the career of the future emperor was the Egyptian campaign in 1798-1801, a disastrous campaign from a military and strategic point of view, but which provided France with immersion in the culture of Ancient Egypt and provided a huge amount of information about the art of this state. In the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798 - meaning the pyramids on the Giza plateau, including the one built for the pharaoh Cheops - Napoleon defeated the Mamluks, and according to legend, he spent one night in the largest of the structures of Ancient Egypt - like he once did another great conqueror Alexander the Great. The next morning, leaving the chamber of the pyramid, Bonaparte allegedly claimed that he had learned something unprecedented - "even if I told you, you would not believe."

From the very beginning, the Egyptian campaign was organized by Napoleon, among other things, and as a large-scale scientific research, along with the military, scientists went to African lands, whose duties included the description and study of the monuments of Ancient Egypt - and this tremendous work was done. There were versions that the future emperor went to Egypt not for victory, but for ancient knowledge - and, perhaps, received it. By a curious coincidence, both the Louvre pyramid and the obelisk from the temple in Luxor, donated to France by the ruler of Egypt in 1830, became part of the so-called historical axis of Paris, or the Royal Perspective, which originates at the Louvre and ends at the Grand Arch of the La Défense quarter. In general, in the architecture of the central part of Paris, they saw a whole system of laws that led directly to the ideas of the Freemasons - supposedly the reconstruction of the historical center of the capital was under the leadership of "free masons" who sought to organize a chaotic world through the very ancient secret knowledge. Here, too, there was a reference to Ancient Egypt, according to some versions, it was this civilization that gave rise to the philosophy of Freemasonry.

And the Louvre Pyramid, embodying one of the symbols of Freemasonry, could look from this point of view as an attempt to promote the ideals of brotherhood by Mitterrand. However, the president never gave up his sympathies, without confirming, however, his belonging to any of the Masonic lodges. Another element of the Louvre Palace's new look is the inverted pyramid, which was featured prominently in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

It is located some distance from the main entrance to the Louvre, under the Place Carrousel, in an underground shopping complex. Right under the glass inverted pyramid, another one was erected - very small, stone, only one meter high. According to Professor Langdon, the hero of Brown's work, this tiny pyramid is actually part of a large, hidden underground and containing a chamber with the sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene, the real Grail. The inverted pyramid was created in 1993 as a continuation of the reconstruction of the museum.

The new architecture of Paris near the walls of the Louvre at least deserves further study and study of its laws, especially since it will no longer be possible to obtain information from the main characters of this reconstruction. François Mitterrand passed away in 1995, shortly after the end of his presidential term. The cause of death of the former head of France was an incurable disease, which he learned about at the beginning of his work as President of the Republic and which he hid during his tenure. Here, too, an interesting connection can be traced with the project of the Louvre pyramid - it was then that Mitterrand came up with his proposal. It is no coincidence, perhaps, one of the unspoken names of the project was "Francois pyramid" - it seemed to immortalize its creator, standing on the threshold of eternity.

Professor Bei Yu-Ming passed away on May 17, 2019 in New York at the age of 102. He became famous not only thanks to the Louvre pyramid, but also creating other famous buildings, among them - the eastern building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar., Mitterrand attracted to his side the staff of the former Minister of Culture André Malraux - not only a confident politician, but also an official, already had the experience of remodeling the historically priceless building for Paris - the Opera Garnier.