Photo TidbitsChurch of St. Mary Magdalen

By Jim and Emmy Humberd

The Church of St. Mary Magdalen, known as the Madeleine, looks every bit like a Greek temple. The building was started and stopped, torn down and rebuilt, and almost became a railroad station at one time. Finally, Napoléon commanded that it be built along the lines of the ancient Maison Carrée in the city of Nîmes. Fifty-two Corinthian columns, eight in the front facade, each sixty-six feet high and placed around the perimeter of the building, give the Madeleine a look of great majesty. Maison Carrée is surrounded by 30 columns, with only six in the front facade, but the style was copied faithfully.

One year, from the Place de la Concorde we looked north on the Rue Royale and saw what appeared to be a canvas-covered scaffolding hiding repairs being made to the Madeleine. Someone had painted a full-size picture of the front of the building on the canvas, and we assumed that was to camouflage the repairs. Once we arrived at the church, we could see the life-size picture did in fact cover the entire front, but it must have been someone's idea of art, we didn't see any construction or maintenance that needed to be covered up.

To appreciate the size of the art, note the cars and people at street level.

Books by Jim and Emmy Humberd:
Invitation to France
Invitation to Germany
Invitation to Italy

Related Links:
Image of The Paris Pages / Images des Pages de Paris

French Video Immersion