Petit Palais

Design competition In 1894 a competition was held for the 1900 Exhibition area. Inspiration Girault largely draws on the late 17th and early 18th century French style for the Petit Palais. Additionally his work, such as the domed central porch and the triple arcade, has many references to the stables at the Château de Chantilly. Plan of the building Girault's plan for the had minimal alterations from the design to the execution. The plan was original and fit perfectly in its given location. The is a trapezoid shape with its larger side as the main façade facing the . The building's shape makes a semi-circular courtyard at the center. ==Architecture==

The Beaux-Arts style was designed by Charles Girault, and is around an octi-circular courtyard and garden, similar to the . Its ionic columns, grand porch, and dome echo those of Les Invalides across the river. The tympanum depicting the city of Paris surrounded by muses is the work of sculptor Jean Antoine Injalbert. The was built to be a lasting building that would become a permanent fine arts museum after the exhibition. The materials of the building—stone, steel and concrete as well as the decoration were to demonstrate that the was built to be enduring. Exterior Main façade The main façade of the building faces the . The focal point of the façade is the central entrance: "a central archway set in an archivolt topped by a dome and reached by a broad set of steps". Two wings flank the main entrance. These wings, continuing to the end (corner) pavilions, are embellished with free-standing columns that frame the tall windows. Pavilions The exterior of the pavilions are embellished with arched windows from the side around to the rear façades. These grand windows provide side lighting for the outer three galleries of the interior museum. Decoration The exterior of the Petit Palais was embellished with many contemporary sculptures. Several famous sculptors at the time, such as Louis Convers, Charles Desvergnes, Léon Fagel, Desiré Maurice Ferrary, Jean-Baptiste Hugues, Jean Antoine Injalbert and Émile Peynot, worked on the exterior decoration of the building. Interior Courtyard The trapezoidal shape of the Petit Palais forms an open area at the centre of the building. This enclosed area creates a semicircular, peristyled courtyard. The architecture of the courtyard incorporated many different architectural elements. The elegant courtyard is considered Beaux-Arts style because of the "symmetrical composition" and "rich decoration in high relief". Coupled columns made of pink Vosges granite and gilt-bronze encircle the courtyard and bordering covered gallery. Although the courtyard is in the central part of the Petit Palais, one of the main structures of the Exhibition, its purpose was to provide visitors with a relaxing space apart from the busy Exposition. Museum The museum is split into two levels with two series of rooms running parallel and juxtaposed. The interior of the Petit Palais was designed to create exhibition spaces "suited to every aspect of a collection: the outer galleries for objects, the inner, skylit ones for paintings, the lower galleries for reserves and the entrance rotunda and main gallery for sculptures". The entrance rotunda and main gallery was especially grand. The floors were tiled with mosaics, the walls were lined with marble, whereas the dome and vaults were filled with allegorical paintings. ==Exhibits==

The exhibits housed in the Petit Palais during the Exhibition displayed the History of Art from the beginning until the present era. ==Reactions and influence abroad==

As a whole, the architecture of the 1900 Exhibition was not well received, but reactions to the Petit Palais were generally positive. Some people even claimed that the Petit Palais had the "power to educate the mind while it pleases the senses". King Leopold II of Belgium was very impressed with Girault's execution of the Petit Palais. This admiration started a "fruitful collaboration between monarch and architect". Girault was commissioned to build several structures including: the Arc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, extensions at the Royal Castle of Laeken, and a seafront colonnade at Ostend. The Petit Palais has served as a model for other public buildings, notably for the Royal Museum for Central Africa located in Tervuren, Belgium; and the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago. ==Gallery==

File:Le Petit Palais - Saint Jean l'évangéliste - 16ème siècle - 001.jpg|John the Apostle, detail of a 16th-century painting File:Diana Resting, by Jacob Jordaens.jpg|Diana Resting, by Jacob Jordaens File:Dionysos Tauros Petit Palais ADUT00069.jpg|Mask of Dionysos Tauros File:Auguste Clésinger - Bacchante. 1848.jpg|Woman stung by a snake by Auguste Clésinger File:Antoine Bourdelle (Paris 1900, musée du Petit Palais) 1.jpg|''La naissance d'Aphrodite'' by Antoine Bourdelle File:Le Petit Palais - Hélène Bertaux - Psyché sous l'empire du mystère - 001.jpg|''Psyché sous l'empire du mystère'', by Hélène Bertaux File:Seine affluents Ferrary Petit Palais.jpg|The Seine and its tributaries by Désiré-Maurice Ferrary File:Paris Peynot Petit Palais.jpg|Coat of Arms of Paris by Émile Peynot File:Quatre saisons Convers Petit Palais.jpg|Quatre saisons by Louis Convers File:Entrance of the Petit Palais by night - 2022-08-06.jpg|Entrance of the Petit Palais by night in 2022 == See also ==