1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome Back to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: where we reveal a new piece of history every day. 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Today is August nineteen. The day was August the French 5 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: Revolutionary government opened the Louver as a public museum. In 6 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: the twelfth century, King Philip the Second was getting ready 7 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: to leave France for the Crusades, a series of religious 8 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: wars in the medieval period. The king decided to build 9 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: a fortress to protect Paris. Extra protection was needed at 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: a weak spot in the fortification near the River Sin, 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: so the Louver was added. The castle had a moat 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: and circular defensive towers. At this point, the Louver was 13 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: at the outer limits of the city, but over time 14 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: people moved near the fort in an urban district came 15 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: to surround it. But by the early fifteen hundreds, King 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: Francois the First had declared that the capital would be 17 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: his main residence, and he decided to have it rebuilt. 18 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: Work began on the chateau during the reign of France 19 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: while the first when a small part of the present 20 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:32,839 Speaker 1: Louver was constructed under architect Pierre Lescou. Construction continued into 21 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: the reign of Unre the second and Charles the ninth, 22 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: and wings and free standing buildings were added. Almost all 23 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: the French monarchs that followed extended the Louver and its grounds. 24 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: Louis and Louis the fourteenth specifically made major changes to 25 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: the building complex. The two kings and their ministers acquired 26 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: a lot of works of art. In sixteen eighty two, 27 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: King Louis the four teenth moved his court to Versailles, 28 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: and the Louver was no longer a royal residence. The 29 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: Louver did, though, become home to art academies that displayed 30 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: their work. In the eighteenth century, people began voicing their 31 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: desire for a display of the royal art collections. The 32 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: Louver was proposed as a place for a public museum, 33 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 1: but it took until after the French Revolution broke out 34 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty nine for a permanent museum to actually 35 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: be established. The Musa Central a Day Art, as it 36 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: was called, then open to the public on August tenth, 37 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: sevente in the grand gallery of the Louver, five and 38 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: thirty seven paintings were on display, So we're one hundred 39 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: and twenty four marble and bronze sculptures, precious marbles, porcelain works, clocks, 40 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: and other pieces. Many of the works had been confiscated 41 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 1: from the royal family and French nobility. The Louver closed 42 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: about three years after it opened because of issues with 43 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: the building, but Napoleon later reopened the museum. He even 44 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: renamed it the Mousai. Napoleon his Grand Army stole art 45 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: and cultural artifacts as they crossed the European continent in 46 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the Louver's collection grew quickly. 47 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: Thousands of artworks were returned to their owners after Napoleon's fall, 48 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: but many stolen artworks remain in the Egyptian collection and 49 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: other departments. Construction of the Cores care and a wing 50 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: on the north along the Rue de Rivoli began under Napoleon. 51 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: Two wings were added in the eighteen hundreds, and the 52 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: Louver complex was completed under the reign of Napoleon the Third. 53 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: During the Nazi occupation of Paris in World War Two, 54 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: the Nazis looted thousands of works of art from France. 55 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: The Louver became a clearing center for the art the 56 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: Germans looted from conquered territories and from the collections of 57 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: Jewish people and others that the Nazis terrorized. Though many 58 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: works were returned to their owners, the Louver still has 59 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: arts that win by Nazis in its possession. In the 60 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties, the Louver was remodeled. Architect 61 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: i Am Pay designed the underground lobby and the famous 62 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: steel and glass pyramid in the museum's courtyard. The Louver 63 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: also has satellite locations in Lawns, France and Abu Dhabi. 64 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more 65 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If there are 66 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: any upcoming days in history that you'd really like me 67 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: to cover on the show, give us a shout on 68 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: social media at t D I h D podcast. Thank 69 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: you for joining me today. Yah see you same place, 70 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: same time tomorrow. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 71 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 72 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.