La Place Louis XV from the Old Regime to the Revolution

The Place Louis XV was the last royal square built in Paris. This book tells the story of its design, construction, use, and political symbolism, to argue that this royal square was a contested space, where the intended celebration of monarchical power was ridiculed, challenged, and eventually displaced by the emerging authority of the people of Paris. As initially imagined, the Place Louis XV was meant to be a monument to the love between king and people. During the long period of construction of the square, Louis XV was criticized for his personal, political, and financial decisions, and challenged by an emboldened Parlement. When inaugurated, the king’s statue was an ambiguous symbol that reflected uncertainty concerning the affective bond between king and people. During the French Revolution, the square became a symbol of royal despotism. Drawing on the work of architectural historians and theorists of space and place, the author takes an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the complex political meanings attributed to this urban landmark. The result is a study of a royal space that reveals how urban space contributed to the growing tension between the king and the people in an age of Enlightenment and Revolution.