By The Side Of Them It Appears Almost Lilliputian.
It would
have been better to have made it in the style of the triumphal arch of the
Porte St Denis.
On this arc of the Carrousel are bas-reliefs both outside
and inside, representing various actions of Napoleon's life. He is always
represented in the Roman costume, with the imperial laurel on his brows,
with kings kneeling, and presenting the keys of conquered cities. On the
outside are statues, large as life, in modern military costume,
representing the different armes which compose the French army.[37] On
the top of this Arc du Carrousel is an antique car of triumph, to which are
harnessed the four bronze horses which were taken from the facade of the
Church of San Marco in Venice. They are of beautiful workmanship and of
great antiquity. What various and mighty revolutions have these horses
witnessed! Cast in Corinth in the time of the glories of the Grecian
commonwealths and removed by conquest to Rome, they witnessed the
successive fall of the Grecian and Roman states; transferred to
Constantinople in the time of Constantine, and from thence removed to
Venice when Constantinople fell into the hands of the French and Venetians;
transferred from thence to Paris in 1798, they have witnessed the
successive falls of the Eastern and Western Empires, of the Republic of
Venice and the Napoleonic dynasty and Empire. Report says they are to be
restored to Venice; and who knows whether they may not be destined one day
to return to their original country, Greece, under perhaps Russian
auspices?
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