Fun Facts

• Liberty Leading the People, was painted by Eugéne Delacroix in 1830. The painting is commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. The fighters represent a mixture of social classes, ranging from the bourgeoisie to the revolutionary worker. In the distance of the painting, the Towers of Notre Dame can be seen. It is believed this artwork, Liberty Leading the People, was the influence for Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables.

• Notre Dame's north transept wall depicts the Rose Window surmounting 18 lancet windows. It was built around 1250-1260 while Jean de Chelles was architect. Most of the original 13th C. glasswork is still intact, filtering light into a rainbow of blues, reds, greens, browns and yellows.
  
• The Great Sphinx of Tanis, granite, dated to 26th century BC, was discovered in the ruins of the Temple of Amun-Ra in Tanis.

• Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, marble was made by Antonio Canova, 1777.

• The Statue of Ebih-Il, gypsum with inlays of schist, shells, and lapis lazuli; it discovered at the Temple of Ishtar in Mari, dating back to 25th century BC.

• The Coronation of Napoleon I, was painted by Jacques-Louis David, completed in 1807. Napoleon is dressed in coronation robes and was originally painted placing the crown above his own head. This was revised to show Napoleon placing the crown on Joséphine de Beauharnais, in a submissive, kneeling position in front of her husband. Napoleon's mother, Maria Letizia Ramolino, was painted in the stands in a more important position than the pope. She did not actually attend the ceremony in protest to the friction of Napoleon with his brothers.