Paris under Napoleon Each of the twelve arrondissements had its own mayor, but their power was limited to enforcing the decrees of Napoleon's ministers. After he crowned himself Emperor on December 2, 1804, Napoleon began a series of projects to make Paris into an imperial capital to rival ancient Rome. He built monuments to French military glory, including the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the column in Place Vendôme, and the future church of the Madeleine, intended as a temple to military heroes; and began the Arc de Triomphe. To improve the circulation of traffic in central Paris, he built a wide new
Paris under Napoleon The Salon was one of the major social events of the year, and attracted huge crowds. The salon had its own political sensitivities; On 22 October 1808 the director of the Louvre, Vivant Denon, hid a portrait of the writer and philosopher François-René de Chateaubriand when the Emperor visited the Salon, since Chateaubriand had criticized the Emperor. Knowing what had been done, Napoleon asked to see it. The divorce of Napoleon and Josephine in 1810 was an even more sensitive subject; she had to be removed from the paintings in the salon where she was portrayed. David removed her from