Celebrated as the “City of Lights,” Paris is one of the most famous metropolises in the world. Its history harkens back centuries, beginning with the arrival of the Celtic Parisii nearly two millennia ago. The Parisii specifically settled around a small island within the Seine that would be called the “Île de la Cité.” Over time, the small Parisii community emerged as one of Europe’s major trading hubs, attracting merchants from places as far south as the Iberian Peninsula. Its prosperity eventually drew the attention of the Roman Empire, which had been invading the region amid a conflict remembered as the “Gallic Wars.” Once the Romans conquered the Parisii in the 1st century B.C., they immediately began to redevelop the site as a much larger settlement named the “Lutetia Parisiorum.” Great wealth flowed into the community, leading to a massive wave of construction that expanded its size exponentially. Dozens of magnificent structures soon dominated the local skyline, including theaters, temples, and public baths. Lutetia even entertained a sprawling forum, as well as a spacious amphitheater. Nevertheless, the city’s golden years came to an end when the Roman Empire collapsed throughout the 4th century A.D. Now known as “Parisius,” it soon fell prey to roving bands of hostile Huns and Vikings.

The ancient French then rose to challenge the marauders, with their leader Clovis establishing his seat of power in the city. But when Clovis’ descendants opted to relocate to Aachen decades later, the community once again struggled to protect itself. The raiders were ultimately turned back when a count named Odo defeated them during a siege of the city in the late 9th century. Referred to as “Paris” by this point, the location would only return to political and cultural relevance after the election of Hugh Capet as French monarch in 987. His own royal dynasty would rule over France from Paris over the next four centuries, with two cadet branches—the Valois and the Bourbons—succeeding it for another five. Paris flourished under the reinvigorated French monarchy as well, who sponsored numerous building projects. Indeed, they commissioned the dredging of the Seine for the creation of new neighborhoods and worked to produce a new massive marketplace (Les Halles) in the Île de la Cité. The Île de la Cité nonetheless remained the essential “heart” of the city, serving as the site of both the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Palais de la Cité. Furthermore, Paris became protected by a massive fortress called the “Louvre,” which originally guarded against the English military during the Hundred Years War.

The French kings kept expanding the city for many centuries thereafter, developing important structures like the famed Pont Neuf, the Places des Vosges, and an extension of the Louvre called the “Tuileries Palace.” This cultural importance endured for generations, too, even after King Louis XIV moved his entire court to the Palace of Versailles just beyond the city limits. Indeed, Paris became a bastion for The Enlightenment, which inspired the creation of additional landmarks, including the Place Vendôme, the Places des Victories, and Les Invalides. However, all France had started to suffer from a prolonged economic crisis that fomented discontent toward the French crown. Paris was thus the epicenter for the French Revolution when it erupted in 1789. In fact, the monarchy was abolished in Paris at the height of the event, with the reigning king, Louis XVI, executed on the Place de la Concorde. After years of political instability, Napoleon Bonaparte—a successful revolutionary general from Corsica—then seized power as First Consul and then Emperor. While Napoleon fought a series of wars of conquest across Europe, he also fully restored Paris back to France’s capital. He specifically bestowed it with his royal patronage and constructed many new edifices, like the Arc de Triomphe, the Canal de l’Ourcq, and the Pont des Arts.

Paris continued to act as the official French capital in the wake of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, during which time it began to take on much of its present appearance. The most impressive changes occurred during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, Emperor Napoleon III, who had risen to power following the Revolutions of 1848. Selecting a French official named Georges-Eugène Haussmann, he commissioned a massive building project that sought to transform downtown Paris into what he considered to be a “modern” city. To achieve that goal, Haussman redeveloped entire districts in a unique architectural style known today as “Second Empire.” Paris subsequently remained France’s primary cultural center, even as it was beset by war during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It subsequently hosted two magnificent international expositions—the 1889 Universal Exposition and the 1900 Universal Exposition—that further solidified Paris’ cultural standing among contemporary Europeans. (The Eiffel Tower itself debuted as the central attraction for one of those fairs.) Many intellectuals also moved to the metropolis at the time, making it the birthplace of innovative artistic movements as “Naturalism,” “Impressionism,” and “Cubism.” Paris still embraces its place in the world as a purveyor of culture today, hosting countless museums, art galleries, and theaters that attract thousands of visitors every year. Its historic downtown—centered around the Île de la Cité—has even been designated as one of the planet’s most prolific UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

When Augustin Blondel de Gagny originally oversaw the development of his personal hôtel particulier, he chose the then-conventional style of French Rococo for his inspiration. Also called “Late Baroque,” Rococo architecture first arose in popularity across Europe during the first half of the 18th century. It specifically appeared in pre-Revolutionary France as a reaction to the ponderous and overwhelming classicism of King Louis XIV’s brand of architecture, best epitomized by his famous Palace of Versailles. In response, several painters, engravers, and architects created their own equally impressive artistic style that sought to institute a more charming and intimate aesthetic into French society. At first, Rococo appeared at the private residences of affluent French merchants and middling aristocrats, before it quickly spread to other areas in Europe. Southern Germany itself was one of the major areas where Rococo became incredibly popular, with most of the work concentrated around Augsburg. Many also saw it as a secular challenge to monarchical power, as the architectural style was primarily embraced by the emerging middle classes of Europe. Nevertheless, Rococo borrowed heavily from the preexisting rocaille style and blended it with the ornate details of Italian Baroque. The new architectural form made wide use of elaborate, asymmetrical scrolling curves, designed in a way that typically mimicked either a “C” or an “S” shape. Other curvaceous figures included shells and rocks, so as to give a natural feel to the architecture. Entire rooms were also completely circular or elliptical in their layout, providing a sense of constant motion and drama within the space. Architects also relied upon a hue of pastel colors that instituted a combination of light and brightness to every room. Gold appeared in particular, employed to convey a sense of awe but not bewilderment. Grand pieces of artwork defined the interior, too, along with a wealth of sculpted molding and decorative gilding. Perhaps the single greatest type of art utilized was the “trompe-l’oeil.” The trompe-l’oeil was a fresco that used realistic imagery to create an optical illusion that made the depicted objects appear as if they were three-dimensional.