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04 · Classical & Gothic Revivals

Empire

c. 1800–1830

Triumphal arches, victory columns and temple-front porches with tall Corinthian columns, decorated with eagles and bees.

Look for

Classical column Round arch Colonnade Pediment
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris, France: an example of Empire architecture
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris, France. Photo: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0
La Madeleine, Paris, Paris, France
La Madeleine, Paris Paris, France · Callaway Kosine – de Suzannet, CC BY 3.0
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France
Arc de Triomphe Paris, France · ZeusUpsistos, CC BY-SA 4.0
General Staff Building (Saint Petersburg), Saint Petersburg, Russia
General Staff Building (Saint Petersburg) Saint Petersburg, Russia · Josep Renalias, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Kazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, Russia · A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0

what it is

Empire is the Napoleonic phase of Neoclassicism, built mainly in France and Russia between about 1800 and 1830. Its architects took forms from Imperial Rome: triumphal arches, temple-front porches with Corinthian columns (columns topped with carved leaves), and freestanding victory columns modeled on Trajan's Column in Rome. Ornament includes eagles, bees, sphinxes, winged Victories, acanthus leaves and Egyptian motifs such as obelisks.

In Paris, Percier and Fontaine's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (1806-1808) and Chalgrin's Arc de Triomphe (begun 1806) commemorate Napoleon's victories. The Vendôme Column (1806-1810) carries 425 bronze relief plates made from captured cannons. La Madeleine (1807-1842) has 52 Corinthian columns. In Saint Petersburg, Kazan Cathedral (1801-1811) and the General Staff Building (1819-1829) are Empire works. Unlike the wider Neoclassical movement, Empire adds Napoleonic emblems such as eagles and bees, and favors the ornate forms of Imperial Rome over the severity of the preceding Directoire period.

how to spot one

Classical column A column based on Greek and Roman designs, with a base, shaft, and decorative capital. It is often used to frame windows or entrances. Round arch An arch shaped as a half circle, often built from wedge-shaped blocks called voussoirs. It is used over doors, windows and between columns in Roman, Romanesque, Renaissance and Richardsonian Romanesque buildings. Colonnade A row of evenly spaced columns carrying a horizontal beam, called an entablature, or a roof. It often lines a building's front or a courtyard on Greek, Roman and Neoclassical buildings. Pediment A low triangle over columns, a door or a window, framed by a projecting ledge called a cornice. It comes from Greek temple roof ends and is common on Neoclassical and Greek Revival buildings.

Also look for

Corinthian orderEntablatureCarved stone reliefSymmetrical facade

history

Empire grew out of the work of Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, who studied in Rome and in the 1790s became leading furniture designers in Paris. Napoleon gave them commissions, including the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (1806-1808). In 1806 he declared that La Madeleine would be a temple to the glory of the Grand Army, and after the victory at Austerlitz he commissioned the Arc de Triomphe.

The style flourished in France from 1799 to 1815 and stayed in use into the late 1820s. Russia built in it as well: Andrey Voronikhin's Kazan Cathedral (1801-1811) and Carlo Rossi's General Staff Building (1819-1829), whose triumphal arch commemorates Russia's victory over Napoleonic France in 1812. Work begun under Napoleon finished later: the Arc de Triomphe was inaugurated in 1836 and La Madeleine was completed in 1842 as a church. The Paris Commune demolished the Vendôme Column on 16 May 1871, and it was re-erected in 1874. Empire was revived in the late 19th century and again in the 1980s, and it influenced Biedermeier, Greek Revival, Egyptian Revival and Regency design.

where to find it

Paris, where the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Arc de Triomphe and La Madeleine stand, and Saint Petersburg, with Kazan Cathedral and the General Staff Building.

easy to confuse with

Panthéon, an example of Neoclassical Neoclassical Buildings modeled closely on Greek and Roman temples: grand columned porches, domes, and plain, symmetrical walls. Royal Pavilion, an example of Regency Regency British urban elegance: creamy painted stucco terraces, bow windows, and lacy iron balconies. Second Bank of the United States, an example of Greek Revival Greek Revival The Greek temple front reborn: full-height columns, a wide plain band above them, and a low triangular gable.