New books: The history of Paris in photos

Following three enormous photo books on Berlin, New York and Los Angeles, Taschen has recently published a fourth, Paris: Portrait d’une ville. Portrait of a City. Porträt einer Stadt, written and edited by Jean Claude Gautrand. When it comes to photographic histories of cities, Paris is particularly interesting as this city was the city where photography was first invented in the late 1830s and also where the technique to make colour photos was discovered in 1904.
This book thus offers a unique photographic account of the development of Paris from 1839 to 2011 and of life in the metropolis through 172 years. There is something almost breathtaking about seeing street views from as far back as 1839, but also photos of daily life and major events, such as the revolution of 1848, pictures which may well be regarded the first press photos.
Here is the changing of the guard at the now lost Tuileries Palace in the reign of Louis-Philippe, the proclamation of the Second Empire in 1852, the troops returning from Italy in 1859, Baron Haussman’s turning Paris upside down, the revolutionaries, politicians, writers, artists, actors and models who have helped create the myth of Paris, but also the destinies of the ordinary man, woman and child.
The book, which is trilingual (French, English and German), is divided into five parts (1830-1871, 1871-1914, 1914-1939, 1939-1959 and 1959-2011). It is only towards the end that the pace is perhaps a bit too hasty as the book moves quite fast from the events of 1968 to the present day.
This is a great book in all meanings of that word, and may almost be considered a must have for all lovers of Paris as well as those interested in the history of photography.

What to see: Church of St-Étienne-du-Mont, Paris

Situated right behind the Panthéon, the Church of St-Étienne-du-Mont is easily overshadowed by its giant neighbour, but those who enter it will find one of Paris’s most beautiful and architectonically interesting churches, one of the prime sights of the Latin Quarter.
Its most interesting feature is the almost art nouveau choir screen with it spiralling staircases leading to the galleries surrounding the altar area. In a way this reflects the floor plan of the church, which is itself somewhat twisted, although inspired by the floor plan of Notre-Dame.
The church’s roots go back to 1222, when monks of the monastery of Sainte-Geneviève first built a church on the spot. However, the growth of the population in the university area necessitated a larger church, which was begun in 1492. Work took more than 130 years and it was only in 1610 that Queen Marguerite laid the foundation stone for the western façade. The church was consecrated in 1626.
The long-drawn out building process explains why the church is a mix of the late Gothic and Renaissance styles, even with some traces of baroque, and a mannerist façade. The architects associated with St-Etienne-du-Mont are Etienne Viguier, Claude Guérin and Victor Baltard.
The remarkable choir screen is believed to have been built between 1530 and 1535 by Philibert Delorme. Its very original design has preserved it through centuries and it is today the only choir screen left in Paris.
The church contains the shrine to Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, and is the resting place of the playwright Jean-Baptiste Racine and the philosopher Blaise Pascal.

Imperial commemoration of Napoléon I

Last Friday (5 May) was the 190th anniversary of the death of Emperor Napoléon I of the French. The ex-Emperor died in exile at St Helena in the evening of 5 May 1821, but in 1840 his remains were brought back to France and eventually laid to rest under the dome of the Invalides.
On the anniversary there was as usual a service held in the adjacent Church of St Louis, preceded by a wreath-laying ceremony at the imperial tomb. The ceremonies were attended by among others the head of the former imperial house, Jean-Christophe, the Prince Napoléon, and his grandmother, Alix, the Princess Napoléon. This year they were saluted by a guard of honour in uniforms from the Napoleonic age.
In addition to the wreath from the Prince Napoléon there were wreaths from the Fondation Napoléon and Souvenir Napoléonien, as well as one from Ajaccio, the Corsican town where Napoléon was born in 1769.

What to see: Alexander III Bridge, Paris

Of the bridges linking the left and right banks of the Seine, the Alexander III Bridge (Pont Alexandre III) might well be considered the most spectacular. At the time of its inauguration it was also a feast of engineering with its single span of 107 metres. The arch itself is six metres high and was constructed so that the view between the Invalides and Champs-Elysées would not be disrupted.
The foundation stone was laid in 1896 by President Félix Faure and Emperor Nikolaj II of Russia. The bridge was named for the latter’s father, the despotic Alexander III, who had died two years previously. Thus it was a symbol of the newly forged alliance between France and Russia, which would come to play such a significant role in 1914. Built for the World Exposition of 1900 and linking the exhibition grounds on either side of the river, the bridge was sometimes also referred to as the “Pont de l’Exposition”.
At either corner of the bridge is an imposing stone column, seventeen metres high, topped by a gilt bronze group of a Pegasus and symbols of glory. On the Left Bank one will find glorifications of commerce and industry above bas-reliefs representing “The Ressurgence of France” (Renaissance France) and “The France of Louis XIV”. On the Right Bank are glorifications of science and the arts as well as bas-reliefs representing modern France and France in the days of Charlemagne.
The figures and the reliefs are by P. Garnet, C. Steiner, J. Coutan, L. Marqueste, E. Frémiet, G. Michel and A. Lenoir, while the bridge itself was constructed by Jean Résal, Amédée Alby, Joseph Cassien-Bernard and Gaston Cousin.

What to see: Paris at Christmas time

Cities of the world: Paris in 20 pictures

Sunset on the Seine

Christmas lights at Champs-Élysées

Notre-Dame

The Louvre Pyramid

Eiffel Tower across the Seine

Panthéon

Paris by night

Sunset

Place de Vendôme

Nike in the Louvre

Henri IV and Panthéon

La Defense

The Eiffel Tower

Tomb of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

The Arc de Triomphe

Les Invalides and Pont Alexandre III

Modern times

Collége des Quatre Nations seen from Pont des Arts

Winter in the Tuileries Garden

Place de la Concorde

New books: The architecture of Paris

Among the new books this month is also Paris: The Architecture Guide by Chris van Uffelen and Markus Golser, which is published by the Swiss Verlagshaus Braun. The guide takes one through 1900 years and 500 buildings. Braun has also published similar architecture guides to Berlin (in English and German), Hamburg and Vienna (the latter two so far only in German), with London due in November.

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