Le grand ballon captif de la cour des Tuileries

Hot air balloon in the Tuileries Gardens, at the 1878 World Fair. The Tuileries, which are visible on the picture around the Carousel, had been burnt in 1871 during the Paris Commune. But even though the Palace had been entirely consumed, its stones remained. Several parts of the Louvre also burnt during the Commune, and were restored in the 1870's by the state. But the Third Republic decided not to restore the Tuileries, which were a symbol of France's monarchy. They were eventually destroyed in 1882. At the time when this print was created, the Tuileries still existed, even though they were burnt and in ruins. On the right of the hot air balloon, in the background of the image, stands the Trocadéro Palace (with its two towers on each side), and, facing it, the Palais du Champ-de-Mars