The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 874: Chapter 10 France’s Minor Contribution

In the heart of downtown Paris, on the north bank of the Seine River, stands a magnificent building that was first built in 1204.

The person who constructed it was none other than the French lord Philip II, nicknamed ‘the Fox’, who fought fiercely against Saladin in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade for more than a year, and subsequently defeated England’s most formidable King Richard the Lionheart and the less competent King John one after another.

Although Philip II’s initial intention in building the castle was to use it as a fortress to guard the north bank of Paris, after centuries of changes, this building, now known as the ‘Louvre’, has been expanded with many splendid towers and elegant rooms.

During the reigns of Francis I and Henry II, these two art-loving kings added numerous Italian and French-style buildings according to their preferences, and spent a fortune purchasing various art treasures to be housed in the Louvre. The most famous of these is the globally renowned painting “Mona Lisa’s Smile”.

In the reign of King Henry IV, a 300-meter-long Grand Gallery was built in the Louvre over a span of 14 years. He planted trees there, kept birds and dogs, and even rode a horse through the corridors to hunt foxes.

When the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV ascended the throne, at the age of five and reigning for a total of 72 years, he painstakingly worked on renovating the Louvre. The gallery was further expanded, and works by renowned artists like Quasimodo and Rembrandt continuously enriched the collection.

As for the famous French inventor Louis XVI, his contributions to the Louvre were outstanding, the most well-known of which was the erection of a guillotine in the ‘Colosseum’ courtyard of the Louvre.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution, the National Assembly declared that this palace, occupied by the Royal Family for six centuries, would belong to all the citizens of France and be open to the public as an art museum.

But this situation did not last long, as Napoleon moved in six years later.

Napoleon was also an art lover, but his method of acquiring art was generally not with money, but with cannonballs heavier than gold coins. Perhaps because cannonballs are so heavy, Napoleon’s art acquisition plans were better executed than those of any previous French kings, and his taste in art was broader than all the kings combined.

To transform Paris into his envisioned ‘New Rome’, the Corsican dwarf used the sculptures from St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice to build the arches of the Louvre, removed the Rosetta Stone from Egypt, and even brought back pieces of walls, bases, and mummies from Ancient Egyptian temples.

Moreover, the regions and states such as Spain, Prussia, Italy, and the Netherlands, which were occupied by him at the time, were also coerced into surrendering thousands of tons of precious artworks to him.

Had Napoleon not needed the Pope’s legal authority to crown him as king, it is hard not to doubt that he would have stormed into the Vatican and moved the Pope’s Holy See and even the Pope’s exclusive bronze canopy to the Louvre.

Napoleon’s rampant zero-cost looting naturally angered the countries of origin of these artworks, so after his complete defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, one important demand of the representatives in the peace negotiations was for the French to immediately return their national treasures.

Although the French returned about 5,000 looted artworks, many still remained in their possession.

Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to see them, as it is no longer an open museum, but has reverted to being the exclusive property of the French Royal Family.

Arthur stepped down from the carriage, took a glance at the distant Louvre and the French soldiers stationed in front of the palace, and shook his head regretfully.

However, although he could not enter the Louvre today, he could still admire the magnificent architectural complex located opposite to the Louvre.

Behind him stood the headquarters of the highest scholarly authority in France—the French Academy.

Although these buildings do not have as long a history as the Louvre, they are still old buildings, having been established in 1688.

And the founding of the French Academy was even later than these buildings. As a unified official administrative and academic institution, the French Academy only has a history of over thirty years.

Even though the French Academy was established later, its management is far more regulated than that of Britain’s Royal Society.

Upon its establishment, the French Academy merged many organizations older than itself, and after more than thirty years of development, it currently has five institutes under its jurisdiction.

These include:

The French Academy, primarily responsible for the French language, established in 1635.

The French Academy of Literature, specializing in literature, founded in 1663.

The French Academy of Sciences, specializing in Natural Philosophy, founded by Cardinal Richelieu in 1666.

The French Academy of Arts, relatively new and vibrant, established in 1816.

And the French Academy of Humanities, which has had a troubled history, established in 1795, closed down in 1803, and re-established in 1832, responsible for moral and political directions.

The purpose of Arthur’s visit, needless to say, was the French Academy of Sciences, which he always reluctant to visit.