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Les Invalides: Église du Dome: View of Napoleon's Tomb, from above

Date

Circa 1910

Creator

G. Massiot & cie
Part of: Architectural Lantern Slides of France
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries

A red porphyry sarcophagus in a sunken rotunda under the central dome

In 1676 he was commissioned to build the church of the Hôtel des Invalides, after Libéral Bruand, who designed the rest of the complex, failed to produce a satisfactory scheme. For this almost monastic establishment for disabled soldiers, Hardouin Mansart created a bipartite building: the first part Église St-Louis, a nine-bay nave for the pensioners, has a barrel vault and side aisles with tribunes opening through flattened arches, following 17th-century French models. The second part, beyond, is the 'great church', the Dôme, in the form of a Greek cross inscribed in a square and vaulted by a dome on a drum--a plan that Hardouin Mansart borrowed from his great-uncle's François designs for the 'rotunda' Bourbon chapel at Saint-Denis Abbey. The exterior of the church was conceived to give maximum emphasis to the dome, which dominates all the other buildings of the Invalides as well as the church itself. This was achieved by the insertion of an attic storey over the drum and by the graceful silhouette of the outer dome, with its extremely tall lantern and crowning obelisk, together reaching more than 100 m above the ground. The interior was renovated from 1840-1861; Napoleon's body was brought back from Saint Helena in 1840.

Images

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Metadata

Creator
G. Massiot & cie
Date
Circa 1910
Publisher
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
Material Type
photographs
Conditions Governing Access
To view the physical lantern slide, please contact the Architecture Library to arrange an appointment

Metadata

Campus Location
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
Link to Finding Aid
https://curate.nd.edu/show/6w924b31v9t
This digital collection may not include all items or all of the information available about the source collection. See the finding aid for more information.

Metadata

Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries at asklib@nd.edu.


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Château de Blois: Interior courtyard, Francis I wing, with spiral staircase

City Hall, Tours: Three-quarter view

City Hall, Tours: Three-quarter view

Church of Saint Ambrose, Paris: Distant overall view, showing the facade and new boulevard

Church of Saint Ambrose, Paris: Distant overall view, showing the facade and new boulevard

Alyscamps (Roman Necropolis): Sarcophagus, formerly part of Les Alyscamps

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Palace of Versailles: Overall view distant view

Tours Cathedral: Tomb of the children of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany

Tours Cathedral: Tomb of the children of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany

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