Place Vendôme again - some "details"...

I have already made a number of posts on the beautiful Place Vendôme, but maybe it’s worth having a closer look on some “details”?

The major architect of the place, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was the grand-nephew of Jacques Mansart, who gave the name to the “mansard roofs”, here with a mixture of oval and rectangular windows.

The design of the street lamps is already worth some closer looks…. 

… as well as the differently decorated pediments.

There must be close to 200 mascarons, all different, illustrating fauns (or satyrs?). They were all created by a sculptor named Jean-Baptise Poulletier (1653-1719). Here are just a “few” examples.

The Place is of course today especially known for a number of luxury shops - with a dominance on jewelry - and for the recently renovated Hotel Ritz. 

The inauguration didn't take place...

Just behind the early 18^th century facade of one corner of Place Vendôme, at no. 7, things have changed. The buildings were refashioned around 1930-31. The premises were prepared for the opening of a bank office, “Banque de Suède et de Paris”, created by a Swede, Ivar Krueger, born in 1880. The opening of the new bank office was planned for March 13, 1932, but the day before, Ivar Krueger died, most probably by suicide. Through the large windows, we can see some decorated walls...

Krueger's death was considered as an enormous event – see the front page of The New York Times the following day. He was then considered as maybe the third-richest man in the world. Here we can see him travelling around and on his yacht in the Stockholm archipelago together with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and others.

Starting in the building industry, Krueger had made his fortune by building up a world quasi- monopoly in safety match manufacturing, the still existing Swedish Match Company. He was involved in a lot of other businesses, including phone (Ericsson), ball bearings (SKF), mining, paper making…, but he got perhaps especially known for having been one of the world’s greatest swindlers. He used the same method as some other previous and later swindlers, paying dividends out of capital rather than earnings.

Krueger’s meeting with some creditors and experts the following day was cancelled, as was the official opening of the bank office.

The decoration of the bank office included some wall intarsia and paintings by the Swedish artist Ewald Dahlskog (1894-1950).

These decorations were forgotten until recently, but have now been renovated and the new occupants of the premises, the catering company Potel & Chabot, are now presenting Dahlskog’s works in their original splendour. A real presentation will be made in a couple of weeks by a representative of the “Association Artistique Suédoise à Paris”. Here are in the meantime some photos … and we can see how Ewald Dahlskog has illustrated Krueger’s worldwide interests. The intarsia concentrates on Sweden…and France.  

                                 

The Vendôme Column

I already posted about the “Vendôme Column” a number of times, e.g. here, here and here…  and I told how the Napoleon statue has been replaced, that the column has been torn down, re-erected…  In my latest post I said that the column was under renovation. Now, since a couple of months it looks like “new”. I thought it was worth showing some details again.

Let’s read the inscription on the base of the column in approximate translation: “Napoleon, the august emperor, has dedicated this column to the honour of the Grand Army, a monument made of bronze, seized from the enemy during the German war in 1805, a war which under his leadership was finished in three months.” This obviously refers especially to the battle of Austerlitz.  

It’s quite amazing to see all the details in some kind of a spiral, 280 m (920 ft) long, representing different war scenes, executed by a number of sculptors under the leadership of François Rude. (I talked about him e.g. here and here.) The bronze used is said to come from some 1.200 captured canons.

Maybe a special attention could be paid to the little openings, giving a bit of light to the interior staircase…

… and especially to the “F II” that you can find a bit everywhere. This of course refers to the defeated Francis II, the last “Roman Emperor”, a title he gave up after the Austerlitz battle. He was later known as Francis I, emperor of Austria and King of Hungary…  After some other defeats against Napoleon, we must remember that in order to confirm peace with France, in 1810 he also “offered” his daughter Marie-Louise to become the wife of Napoleon.  

              

Place Vendôme - again... but different

The Place Vendôme looks a bit different at the moment. Large parts of the buildings are under renovation, including the Hotel Ritz and the Column. In previous posts I have already talked about the early 18^th century created Place Vendôme (e.g. here and here) so I may not have to repeat the story about the place or the Column. 

In any case, now it’s the moment to learn “everything” about the Column by going there, as it during ongoing restoration (cleaning) works is surrounded by illustrations of its history, with the different Napoleon statues, its being torn down and again erected around 1870…  

The Column should look like new again this coming spring, when also the renovated Ritz Hotel should reopen. (I also talked about the hotel already here and about its Hemingway Bar here). 

Give your vote... please!

I have already posted (on my previous blog and on this one) on Place de Vendôme and the Vendôme Column.

Passing by a dull afternoon last week, I thought I should try some different illustrations of the column and then check which one you possibly prefer.

But first, maybe a few words about the column: It was originally erected by Napoleon to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz (1805). The 425 spiraling bas-relief bronze plates and the statue of Napoleon as a Roman Emperor and “peace-maker” on the top were made out of cannons taken from enemy armies. When Napoleon had abdicated and the Royalty was back, his statue was pulled down (and the bronze was used for the recast of the equestrian statue of Henry IV on the Pont Neuf (see previous post). Later in the 1830’s, during King Louis-Philippe’s reign, a replacement statue of Napoleon in a “modern” dress took place, again replaced by another more heroic version in the 1850’s during Napoleon III’s reign. Then, in 1871 (the Paris Commune), the whole column and statue were taken down (the bronze plates were preserved), finally to be re-erected in 1874 with a copy of the original statue on the top. (A copy of the original statue has been preserved.)


Addendum March 2: I learnt that the Napoleon statue you can find at the Invalides is the one which in the 1830's was on top of the column. See previous post: http://www.peter-pho2.com/2011/12/arch-of-triumph-something-more.html

So, back to my question: Which illustration do you prefer? If I give the top picture the number 1 – not necessarily my own choice, this one would be number 2…

… followed by number 3…

… number 4…

… number 5…

… number 6…

… number 7…

… number 8…

… and number 9.

Sorry, there is nothing to win except my gratitude for having commented and possibly “voted”.

Christmas is (almost) over!

Christmas is over and Christmas decorations disappear. However yesterday, the spectacular decoration of Place Vendôme was still there. I could not resist, although the intensity of different light sources made it difficult to reproduce the right impression. I did my best. (There is one photo taken in the late afternoon dusk as a comparison.)

I already made a post about Place Vendôme - with a different Christmas decoration - three years ago on my previous blog, so I’m not going to repeat the description and the history of this place.

As, we all know, this is the place where you would buy your jewelry and if you have some money left, you can have suite at Hôtel Ritz (see top picture).