Louvre Pyramid of an Egyptian death symbol in the middle of Paris. Meanwhile, political critics referred to the structure as "Pharaoh Francois' Pyramid". Many still continue to feel the harsh modernism of the edifice is out of place. During the design phase, there was a proposal that the design include a spire on the pyramid to simplify window washing. Pei objected, however, and this proposal was eliminated. It has been claimed by some that the glass panes in the Louvre Pyramid number exactly 666, "the number of the beast", often associated with Satan. Dominique Stezepfandt's book "François Mitterrand, Grand Architecte de l'Univers"
Paris in the 16th century and sculptor Jean Gouchon was also responsible for the Lescot wing of the Louvre, a masterpiece of combined French and Italian Renaissance art and architecture, on the southeast side of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre (1546-1553). Inside the Louvre, they made the staircase of Henry II (1546-1553) and the Salle des Cariatides (1550). In 1564, Delorme was commissioned by Queen Catherine de Medicis to build an even more ambitious project; a new royal residence, the Tuileries Palace, near the Louvre. Most of the churches built in Paris in the 16th century are in the traditional flamboyant gothic style, though