The ''Musée des Souverains'' (, ''Museum of Sovereigns'') was a history-themed museum of objects associated with former French monarchs. It was created by the future

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

as a separate section within the

Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

, with the aim to glorify all previous sovereign rulers of France and to buttress his own legitimacy. The museum was formed from collections previously held in the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

, the National Furniture Depository, the Artillery Museum, and the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

itself, as well as gifts. After the fall of the Second Empire, the museum was closed and its collections mostly returned to their previous owners.

History

The museum was created by decree of

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

on 15 February 1852, shortly after his successful

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. The project was steered by

Émilien de Nieuwerkerke Émilien is a French masculine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from ...

, a staunch

bonapartist Bonapartism () is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used in the narrow sense to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In ...

who had become Director-General of the French museums administration in late 1849. Nieuwerkerke's cousin Horace de Viel-Castel became the museum's curator on 1 December 1852, the day before the establishment of the Second Empire. Henry Barbet de Jouy replaced Viel-Castel as curator in 1863 and re-organized the exhibits in chronological order. The museum came to an end following the fall of the Second Empire on 4 September 1871, and was closed by decree on 8 May 1872.

Location and collections

The museum was located in five rooms of the

Colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

wing of the Louvre, on the first floor at the top of the wing's south staircase (''escalier du midi''), created under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

by Pierre Fontaine to serve a projected suite of apartments and throne room that was never completed. The first three rooms had been decorated from 1828, under

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

, with wood panelling and ceilings retrieved from historical buildings. The next two rooms were specifically designed for the museum in 1852 by

Félix Duban Jacques Félix Duban () (14 October 1798, Paris – 8 October 1870, Bordeaux) was a French architect, the contemporary of Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Henri Labrouste. Life and career Duban won the Prix de Rome in 1823, the most prestigious awa ...

and decorated with paintings by

Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle, a French decorative painter and architect, was born in Paris in 1818. He studied under Delaroche, and afterwards served on the Commission for Historical Monuments. He died at Florence in 1879. He was largely engaged ...

. * ''Vestibule'', with decoration from

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

's room at the

Château de Vincennes The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...

; * ''Chambre à alcôve'', with decoration from

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

's bedchamber in the

Pavillon du Roi The Pavillon du Roi () was a tower-like structure built in the mid-16th century at the southern end of the Lescot Wing of the Louvre Palace. On its main floor (''piano nobile'') was the primary apartment of the king of France. The pavilion served ...

(on the location of the later ''salle des Sept-Cheminées''); * ''Chambre de parade'', with decoration from

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

's ceremonial chamber, also originally in the

; * ''Salle de la monarchie'' or ''salle des Bourbons'', with decoration glorifying the House of France; * ''Salon de l'Empereur'', at the midpoint of the

, with decoration glorifying

. The first three rooms have been preserved to this day in a similar state, whereas the decoration of the latter two was dismantled after 1870. All these rooms are now all part of the

Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre The Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre (French: Département des Antiquités égyptiennes du Louvre) is a department of the Louvre that is responsible for artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th ...

. The collections included numerous objects including the

regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...

of the kings and queens of France including most of those preserved from the

treasury of Saint-Denis The Treasury of Saint-Denis, kept at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris until the French Revolution, was the main repository of the ''regalia'' of the Kingdom of France, including the ''ancien régime'' portion of what are now known as the Fren ...

, the treasury of the

Order of the Holy Spirit The Order of the Holy Spirit (; sometimes translated into English as the Order of the Holy Ghost) is a French order of chivalry founded by Henry III of France in 1578. Today, it is a dynastic order under the House of France. It should not be c ...

, paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, furniture, suits of armor, the throne of Dagobert, the ''

baptistère de Saint Louis The Baptistère de Saint Louis is an object of Islamic art, made of hammered brass, and inlaid with silver, gold, and niello. It was produced in the Syro-Egyptian zone, under the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Mamluk dynasty by the coppersmith Muhamma ...

'', and memorabilia of

. They were all listed in a 1866 catalogue by Barbet de Jouy.

Notes

{{Reflist 1852 establishments in France Louvre Museums established in 1852 Defunct museums in Paris Second French Empire History museums in France Napoleon III