Ancient masterpieces from the royal collections
The Louvre’s Masterpieces
The caryatids
Jean Goujon
Under Henri II, the Louvre completed its transition from a medieval fortress into a Renaissance palace. The Salle des Cariatides was originally a splendid ballroom, designed in classical style by the architect Pierre Lescot. It has a musicians’ gallery, supported by four Roman-inspired ‘caryatids’; these sculpted female figures serving as columns were the architect’s way of elevating King Henri II to the status of the Roman emperor Augustus!
The room’s purpose changed in 1692 when it was used to display classical sculptures, which French royalty began to collect in the Renaissance. One of the first masterpieces to enter the royal collections, Diana the Huntress, was joined in 1807 by the Sleeping Hermaphroditos, purchased by Napoleon I. To understand the nature of this fascinating figure, it has to be seen from all sides.
Festivities and bloodshed
The Salle des Cariatides was used as both a ballroom and a court of justice. And it was here, in 1572, that Marguerite de Valois, the famous ‘Queen Margot’, married Henri de Navarre, the future King Henri IV. Only a few days later, on 24 August, Protestant nobles who had attended the wedding were assassinated in the Louvre in the notorious Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.