Palace visit
Discover the Institut de France, easily recognizable by its elegant cupola overlooking the banks of the Seine.
It is under this cupola that the ceremonial sessions as well as the annual awards ceremony of the Institute are held. Stroll through the session rooms where daily academic work takes place and discover the remarkable collections of the Institut de France library and the Mazarin library.
Les lieux à visiter
Cliquer sur un lieu ci-dessous pour le
visiter virtuellement
Cette salle de 525m2 est composée d’une scène de 68m2, d’une régie de 20m2, de 2 cabines de traduction et de 2 loges. Son équipement scénique et audiovisuel HD permet la réalisation de scénographies personnalisées.
L’Auditorium André et Liliane Bettencourt dispose de 350 places dont 8 PMR et accueille vos colloques, conférences filmées, tables rondes, séances de travail, remises de prix, projections de films, concerts de musique ou spectacles.
Les lieux à visiter
- Coupole
- Cour d’honneur
- Bibliothèque Mazarine
-
Bibliothèque
de l’Institut de France - Salles des séances
Les lieux à visiter
Cliquer sur un lieu ci-dessous pour le
visiter virtuellement
-
Le collège des
Quatre-Nations - La Coupole
-
L'auditorium
Bettencourt
Cette salle de 525m2 est composée d’une scène de 68m2, d’une régie de 20m2, de 2 cabines de traduction et de 2 loges. Son équipement scénique et audiovisuel HD permet la réalisation de scénographies personnalisées.
L’Auditorium André et Liliane Bettencourt dispose de 350 places dont 8 PMR et accueille vos colloques, conférences filmées, tables rondes, séances de travail, remises de prix, projections de films, concerts de musique ou spectacles.2
Cette salle de 525m2 est composée d’une scène de 68m2, d’une régie de 20m2, de 2 cabines de traduction et de 2 loges. Son équipement scénique et audiovisuel HD permet la réalisation de scénographies personnalisées.
L’Auditorium André et Liliane Bettencourt dispose de 350 places dont 8 PMR et accueille vos colloques, conférences filmées, tables rondes, séances de travail, remises de prix, projections de films, concerts de musique ou spectacles.1
Cette salle de 525m2 est composée d’une scène de 68m2, d’une régie de 20m2, de 2 cabines de traduction et de 2 loges. Son équipement scénique et audiovisuel HD permet la réalisation de scénographies personnalisées.
L’Auditorium André et Liliane Bettencourt dispose de 350 places dont 8 PMR et accueille vos colloques, conférences filmées, tables rondes, séances de travail, remises de prix, projections de films, concerts de musique ou spectacles.3
Discover the Palace
at the Institut de France
Founded in 1795, the Institut de France is a non-profit umbrella organization overseeing five Academies that strive to enhance the arts, sciences, and humanities. It is under the protection of the President of France and is the guardian of a significant architectural heritage, beginning with the Palace of the quai de Conti in Paris.
From the Collège des Quatre-Nations to the Palace of the Institut de France
Prior to the French Revolution, the current Palace of the Institute was the home to the Collège des Quatre-Nations. Founded according to the dying wishes of Cardinal Mazarin, the College was designed to educate young aristocratic men from the newly incorporated territories of France (Pignerol, Alsace, Artois, and Roussillon).
Created on October 25th, 1795 by the Constitution of Year III to replace the Royal Academies eliminated two years prior, the Institut de France was located initially at the Louvre and then was transferred to the site of the former Collège des Quatre-Nations in 1805 by Napoleon.
The academies were restored between 1816 and 1832 and were brought together inside the Institute.
With its half-moon facade opening onto the Seine and its double circular dome on the outside and oval on the inside capping the old College chapel, the building testifies to the virtuosity of its architect, Louis Le Vau (1612-1670). The architect Antoine Vaudoyer (1756-1846) later transformed the chapel into a meeting room. He commissioned a wooden sub-dome (which has not survived to the present day) to improve the acoustics of the room, and installed rostra and tiered seating for 1,200 people.
The dome was restored to its original appearance in the 1950s by architect André Gutton (1904-2002).
The Institut de France was born from the desire to bring together all fields of knowledge and the arts within a single institution. Five academies work there today (Académie Française, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Académie des Sciences, Académie des Beaux-Arts, and Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques). Each academy is run by a Permanent Secretary (two in the case of the Académie des sciences) who formerly represents their academies in official ceremonies. The Permanent Secretary is elected for life by his colleagues at the Académie Française and for a renewable term in the other four academies. A chancellor and a director assist the Permanent Secretary of the Académie Française. In the other four academies, a president and a vice-president, elected for one year, support the Permanent Secretary.
The Cupola
Every October, the five academies meet in a ceremonial session beneath the Dome of the Institut de France. A representative of each Academy then presents a speech on a shared topic. In June, the recipients of the annual awards are honored at the Grand Prix des Fondations. In addition to the Ceremonial sessions held every autumn, new academicians are formally inducted under the Dome. Academicians attending these events wear the habit vert (green tailcoat), which, despite its name, is black and embroidered with green and gold olive branches. The majority of the Academicians also wear the ceremonial sword, some of which are works of art, customized with personalized symbols.
The Cupola, the highlight of the Le Vau project
In 1663, construction began on the Collège des Quatre-Nations wished for by Cardinal Mazarin. Louis Le Vau, the famous architect of the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte known also for his work at the Louvre and Versailles, was chosen to draw the plans. Unfortunately, he would not live to see the building completed. The project, made difficult by the dimensions of the parcel, featured a facade fetching a circular arch connecting two pavilions, one of which houses the Mazarin library.
In the center, the college chapel, crowned with its double dome, was built to accommodate the tomb of the Cardinal Mazarin. The rear of the building was designed as classrooms and living quarters. The building was designed to have the reflection on the waters of the Seine join with that of the Louvre Palace.
Opened in 1688, the College served its initial purpose for almost a hundred years, welcoming students. Some of whom would become famous, such as d’Alembert, the future Permanent Secretary of the Académie Française, and the chemist, Antoine Lavoisier. In 1790, the College was closed, and the building was converted into a prison. Famous captives include the painter David, a former student of the College, and Guillotin, the doctor and politician best known for his invention of the guillotine. Subsequently, the building was used to store grain.
The arrival of the academies at the Palace
In 1801, Napoleon decided to house all the senior branches of the government in buildings that physically reflected the importance of their work and were sufficiently functional to enable them to carry out their duties. In 1805, he had the academies moved to the buildings that had formerly housed the Collège des Quatre-Nations.
The Session Halls
of the academies
Inaugurated in 1846, the two meeting halls are located in a wing of the Palace built in the 19th century by the architect Hippolyte Le Bas (1782-1867). They host weekly sessions, awards ceremonies, seminars, and conferences. Each of the five academies employs the rooms on a given day of the week: Monday is for the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Tuesday is for Académie des Sciences, Wednesday is for the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Thursday is the turn of the Académie Française and Friday is for the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
The Plenary Hall
The walls of the Plenary hall are decorated with portraits, busts, and statues in tribute to the illustrious intellectuals and artists associated with the Institut de France‘s academic disciplines, these include Corneille, Racine, Molière, La Fontaine, Poussin, and Puget.
The Small Assembly Hall
The Académie française meets here every Thursday beneath the watchful eye of its founder Cardinal Richelieu. The Henri Stupfler painting of the Cardinal Richelieu dates from 1876 and is a copy of the well-known portrait by Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674). The Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques also meets here on Mondays.
The Library
of the Institut de France
The National Institute was established with a library, nourished mainly by revolutionary confiscations. Today it is one of the most important libraries in France in terms of the number of documents and has extraordinary riches, including twelve notebooks and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci brought back from Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte. The library has a double ambition as it fulfills its purpose as the living memory of the institution: to help academics in their work and research, and to collect the work of members of the Institute, past or present. In addition, it welcomes many researchers each year who are granted permission to consult the collections. Since its founding, the Institute’s library has continued to enrich its holdings. To date, they contain an estimated 1,500,000 documents of all types, including nearly 600,000 printed volumes and 8,600 manuscripts, engravings, drawings, photographs, medals, maps, plans, and memorabilia or the most diverse objects. These riches come from the gifts of many donors and patrons, from purchases and exchanges. Among the most remarkable gifts, that of the Belgian bibliophile Charles de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, who in 1905 bequeathed to the Institute his collection consisting of 1,500 manuscripts, 40,000 works, and 1,100 periodical titles, constitutes an exceptional collection of literary life in the Nineteenth Century.
Bibliothèque
Mazarine
The Bibliothèque Mazarine is home to the Mazarin collections. Originally installed on the right bank, in the Palais Mazarin (which later became part of the Richelieu site of the BnF – French National Library), the library was opened to scholars in 1643. In the 17th century, due to massive acquisitions in France and intense sourcing abroad, it became the most extensive collection of manuscripts and rare books in Europe. In accordance with Mazarin’s testamentary provisions, it was transferred to the Collège des Quatre-Nations in 1668. During the Revolution, it remained operational because it was open for consultation during the Cardinal Mazarin’s lifetime; it was considered a public library. Due to confiscations during the Revolutionary period, the collections doubled across all disciplines and included the accumulation of many works of art. Since then, it has developed its resources through an acquisition policy that favors the historical science-oriented acquisition policy and through large donations.
