LOU'VRE, one of the most ancient palaces of France. It existed in the time of Dagobert as a hunting seat, the woods then extending all over the actual site of the northern portion of Paris down to the banks of the Seine. The origin of its name has not been satisfactorily ascer tained. It was formed into a stronghold by Philip Augustus, who surroundol it with towers and fosses, and converted it into a state prison for confining the re fractory vassals of the crown. It was then without the walls of l'aris ; but, on their extension in the latter part of the 1-Ith century, it was included within their cir cuit. Charles V. made additions to it. That part of the palace now called the Vieux Louvre was commenced under the reign of Francis f., after the designs of l'ierre L'Eseot, abbot of Cluguy. When Charles IX resided in the Louvre, ho began the long gallery which connects it with Cho Tuilrcries, and in which is now deposited the celebrated collection of pic tures. It was finished under Henry IV.
Louis XIV., from the designs of Leiner cior, erected the peristyle which forms the entrance to the Vieux Louvre from the side of the Tuilleries. That monarch also gave a beginning to the remainder of the present modern edifice, from the designs of Claude Perrault. The edifice has never been finished; though, under the reigns of succeeding monarchs, and especially during that of Napoleon, it has 5 slyly advanced towards completion. The eastern front, though not finished even now, exhibits a façade of surpassing beau ty—perhaps, in its kind, never equalled. The quadrangle of the Louvre is a per fect square on the plan. Three of its sides were from the designs of Perrault, above mentioned. Besides the gallery above adverted to, which contains some of the finest pictures in the world, the Louvre contains a museum of sculpture, antiquities, and other specimens of art, equally valuable.