86 statues

During important restoration and enlargement of the Louvre during the 19th century it was decided to decorate the facades of the « Cour Napoléon » by 86 statues of “hommes illustres” (not a single woman!) Here they are! I don’t know who made the selection. There are a number of statesmen, some religious, very few military, but a large number of authors, painters, sculptors, architects… which of course is normal for a building, dedicated to the arts. 

During my absence, I thought that some of you might wish to learn something related basically to French history and art, so I made links to the biographies. (I learnt a lot while preparing this post!) 

Peter Abelard, Jacques Amyot, Gérard Audran, Saint Bernard, Nicolas Boileau, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Louis Bourdalou, Libéral Bruant

Comte de Buffon, Jean Bullant, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Pierre Chambiche, André Chénier, Clodion, Jacques Cœur, Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Nicolas de Condorcet, Pierre Corneille, Jean Cousin, Nicolas Coustou, Antoine Coysevox, Henri François d’Aguesseau, Charles de Brosse, Philippe de Champagne

Philippe de Commines, Jacques Auguste de Thou, Grégoire de Tours, Philibert de l’Orme, René Descartes, Androuet de Cerceau, Etienne Dupérac, François Fénelon

Esprit Fléchier, Jean Froissart, Ange-Jacques Gabriel, Jean Goujon, André Grétry, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Jean de Joinville, Jean-Balthazar Keller

Jean de la Fontaine, François de le Rochefoucauld, Jean de La Bruyère, Jérome Lalande, Antoine Lavoisier, Charles Le Brun, Népomucène Lemercier, André Lenôtre

Jean Le Pautre, Pierre Lescot, Charles Alexandre Lesueur, Michel de l’Hopital, Claude Lorrain, Marquis de Louvois, François de Malherbe, Jules Hardouin Mansart

Abel-François Poisson (de Marigny), Jean-Babtiste Massillon, Cardinal Mazarin, Eudes de Mézeray, Pierre Mignard, Mathieu Molé, Molière, Michel de Montaigne

Montesquieu, Bernard Palissy, Denis Papin, Ambroise Paré, Blaise Pascal, Charles Perrault, Germain Pilon, Nicolas Poussin

Pierre Puget, François Rabelais, Jean Racine, Jean-François Regnard, Cardinal Richelieu, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jacques Sarazin

Claude de Saint Simon, Suger, Duc de Sully, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Le Prestre de Vauban, Voltaire.