France, as well as England and Germany, has had a classic revival; and the most powerful architectural school in the present century was that body of French architects whose style is called the néo-Grec (i. e. revived Greek), and to whom we owe the fine buildings of the reign of Napoleon III.; these are all strongly marked by features derived from the study of Greek art engrafted upon the framework which the gradual development of the Renaissance had supplied. The Church of St. Vincent de Paid, erected by Hittorf, and the École des Beaux Arts, by Duban, both in Paris, are early specimens of this style; the Opera-house, by Garnier, is the most important, but by no means the most artistic, example of its latest form. We must not omit to notice the great group of palaces formed by the Louvre and the Tuileries:[1] the difference in the styles and want of conformity in alignment of the two palaces long formed an insuperable difficulty to giving unity to the appearance of the whole; and it was reserved for the late M. Visconti to arrange the new portions in such a manner as to tone down the disparities, and produce a pleasing harmony in the various parts. Some large central feature is still considered necessary by Fergusson and other authorities; but even without it, the Louvre, as it now stands, is one of the finest palaces of the day.
The Hôtel de Ville, originally built in the Renaissance style in 1628, and afterwards much enlarged until it became one of the most magnificent structures in Paris, was burned by the Communists in 1871. It has since been restored in the same style.
The new Custom-houses, Prefectures, Hôtels de Ville,
- ↑ Part of the Tuileries was burnt by the Communists in 1871.
