MUSEUM OF THE LEGION OF HONOR
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The magnificent Palace of Salm, home to a museum that goes back in time to evoke the knightly orders of the Middle Ages
The museum's collections are housed in the magnificent Palais de Salm. It was built in the 1780s for the German prince Frederick III of Salm Kyrbourg. It was acquired by the Legion of Honor in 1804. This order administers national awards such as the Legion of Honor (1802), the Military Medal (1852) and the National Order of Merit (1963). The museum recalls all this and goes back in time to evoke the chivalric and religious orders of the Middle Ages, as well as the royal orders. One room is devoted to foreign orders, such as the Garter Order of the United Kingdom. The 1870 style has long been criticized for being too gilded, too heavy, overloaded with symbols and large-scale pictorial compositions by Jean-Paul Laurens and Adolphe Yvon, painters reviled for their academicism. In an unfortunate attempt at modernism, the entire building had been whitewashed and glazed with totally banal glass. Restoring the building to its original condition therefore became a veritable re-creation. After extensive restoration work in 2010, a blend of solemnity and 19th-century aesthetics once again permeates the palace's salons, which open onto the Seine and the Louvre. Today, the collections are distinguished by a museography that separates French decorations from those from the rest of the world. Finally, the museum often hosts temporary exhibitions. In short, this museum is much more surprising than it seems.
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