Portal:France/Selected picture
The Selected picture box on the portal chooses one of the following at random when displaying the page. Follow the instructions below for adding or nominating a new picture to the list.
Picture candidates[edit]
Feel free to add related featured pictures to the list. Nominate other pictures on the portal talk page.
- Pictures must be
- Free to use and hosted on Commons
- Of good quality (not blurred, grainy or discoloured)
- Interesting
- Relevant to an article or topic
To find appropriate pictures, use search box below:
Instructions[edit]
- For pictures, which appeared as picture of the day on the Main Page, just add the date in
YYYY-MM-DDformat to the list (please keep the list sorted). - For other pictures, use following parameters:
|iN= |titleN= |creditN= |captionN=
where N is the next unused number.
Selected pictures list[edit]
Photo credit: David Iliff
Champ de Mars (Paris, France), as seen from the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. In the distance is Tour Montparnasse and the dome on the left is Les Invalides. The École Militaire is at the end of the Champ de Mars. In English the name means "Field of Mars", from Mars the Roman god of war, from its original use for military training. During the French Revolution, the Champ de Mars was the setting of the Fête de la Fédération, on 14 July 1790.
"Au Clair de la Lune", a traditional French folk song, from a 1910s children's book. It is commonly taught to beginner students of various instruments.
Listen to: An 1860 recording of the song, which is believed to be the oldest recognizable sound recording of a human voice in existence.
Artist: Unknown; Restoration: Lise Broer
A schematic depiction of the first successful frameless parachute, invented by André-Jacques Garnerin (1769–1823). On October 22, 1797, Garnerin rode in a basket hanging from the parachute, which was attached to the bottom of a hot air balloon (centre). At a height of approximately 3,000 feet (910 m), he severed the rope that connected his parachute to the balloon. The basket swung during descent, then bumped and scraped when it landed, but Garnerin emerged uninjured.
Photo: Jebulon
An écorché (flayed figure) of a horseman and his horse, prepared by anatomist Honoré Fragonard and on display at the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort in Paris. Fragonard was the first professor of anatomy at the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (National Veterinary School of Alfort) and prepared thousands of anatomical pieces. In 1771, after six years of teaching, he was dismissed from his post for being a "madman".
Photograph: Łukasz Golowanow
The Patrouille de France, a precision aerobatic demonstration team, in full formation at the Radom Air Show. The team was established as part of the French Air Force in 1947, although aerobatic teams had existed in the country since 1931. The Patrouille fly Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets.
Saint George Palace is an historic building in the city of Rennes, France. Built in 1670, it was used as an abbey residence, replacing a much older abbey building that stood on the same site. During the French Revolution the abbey was closed and the property was seized by the government. Since 1930 the building has been listed as a monument historique of France. It now houses the fire services for the city and other civil administrative offices.
Les raboteurs de parquet (The Floor Scrapers) is an 1875 oil on canvas painting by French impressionist Gustave Caillebotte. Measuring 102 by 146.5 centimetres (40 in × 57.7 in), it depicts three men scraping the floor of what is thought to be Caillebotte's own studio, apparently engaged in conversation. According to the Musée d'Orsay, where the painting is held, this is one of the first paintings to feature the urban working class, and indeed the subject matter proved scandalous at the time.
Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877) is the best known painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte. This large oil painting shows a number of figures walking through the Carrefour de Moscou, a road intersection to the east of the Gare Saint-Lazare in north Paris. It was first shown at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877, and is currently owned by the Art Institute of Chicago.
Photograph: Jebulon
A Lantern of the Dead in Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France. Such small stone towers are found chiefly in the centre and west of France. They are often thought to have indicated cemeteries through lights exhibited at the top of the structures.
Painting: Gustave Caillebotte
Homme au bain ("Man at His Bath") is an oil painting completed by the French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte in 1884. The canvas measures 145 by 114 centimetres (57 in × 45 in). The painting was held in private collections from the artist's death until June 2011, when it was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Interpretations of the painting and its male nude have contrasted the figure's masculinity with his vulnerability.
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Louis XVI of France (1754–1793) was King of France (later King of the French) from 1774 until his deposition in 1792. His early reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideals, including ultimately quashed efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics. However, after several years of national debt and financial and food crises, Louis was arrested during the insurrection of 10 August 1792, found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793.
Photograph: DXR
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. It is also home to the Dôme des Invalides, a large church where some of France's war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are buried.
Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake is an 1889 oil on wood painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, which represents his late Brittany period in the fishing village of Le Pouldu in northwestern France. It shows Gauguin against a red background with a halo above his head and apples hanging beside him as he holds a snake in his hand while plants or flowers appear in the foreground. The religious symbolism and the stylistic influence of Japanese wood-block prints and cloisonnism are apparent. The work is one of more than 40 self-portraits he completed. It is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son is an oil-on-canvas painting by Claude Monet from 1875. The Impressionist work depicts his wife Camille and their son Jean during a stroll on a windy summer's day in Argenteuil. It has been held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1983.
Photograph: Georges Scott; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
An illustration showing the Stade Français rugby union team, wearing dark blue jerseys, playing against Racing Club (now known as Racing 92) in 1906. On 20 March 1892, the two teams played in the first ever French rugby championship in a one-off game.
Coin: Monnaie de Paris, Republic of France; Image: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History
The French franc is a former currency of France and Monaco and, alongside the Spanish peseta, a former de facto currency in Andorra. The first franc was a gold coin introduced in 1360, which showed King John II of France on a richly decorated horse, earning it the name franc à cheval. A later coin, showing Charles VII on foot, under a canopy, was named the franc à pied. The decimal franc was established by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit, and became the official currency of France in 1799. France joined the euro in 1999, and the franc was replaced by euro notes and coins in 2002.
This picture shows a 20-franc coin, dated 1803. The obverse shows an image of Napoleon.
See also: 1807 40-franc coin
A map of the the French city of Brest, dated to around 1700. Located in the Finistère department of Brittany, Brest lies in a sheltered bay close to the western extremity of metropolitan France. Originally named Bresta, possibly derived from a Celtic word meaning hill, the city came under the rule of the duke of Brittany in 1240. From 1342 to 1397 the city was under English rule, and became part of France in 1491 when a marriage unified Brittany with the French crown. Cardinal Richelieu designated the city a major naval base in 1631, a status it retains today. The city centre was mostly rebuilt after heavy Allied bombing during World War II.
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Painting credit: Charles-André van Loo
Marie Leszczyńska (23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768) was a Polish noblewoman and French queen consort. The daughter of King Stanisław I Leszczyński of Poland and Catherine Opalińska, she married King Louis XV of France in 1725 and became queen consort of France, serving in that role for 42 years until her death, the longest of any French queen. Marie was popular due to her generosity and piety. She was the grandmother of future French kings Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X.
This picture is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Marie by French painter Charles-André van Loo, commissioned by Louis XV in 1747. She is depicted wearing the Sancy diamond, part of the French Crown Jewels. The painting now hangs in the Palace of Versailles.
Coin credit: Monnaie de Paris; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
The French franc is a former currency of France and Monaco and, alongside the Spanish peseta, a former de facto currency in Andorra. The first franc was a gold coin introduced in 1360, which showed King John II of France on a richly decorated horse, earning it the name franc à cheval. A later coin, showing Charles VII on foot, under a canopy, was named the franc à pied. The decimal franc was established by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit, and became the official currency of France in 1799. France joined the euro in 1999, and the franc was replaced by euro notes and coins in 2002.
This picture shows a 100-franc gold coin, dated 1889, with a "winged genius" designed by Augustin Dupré on the obverse. Only a hundred proof coins of this design were minted.
Painting credit: Jean Clouet
Guillaume Budé (26 January 1467 – 23 August 1540) was a French scholar and humanist. He was involved in the founding of Collegium Trilingue, which later became the Collège de France. Budé was also the first keeper of the royal library at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which was later moved to Paris, where it became the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He was an ambassador to Rome and held several important judicial and civil administrative posts.
This picture is an oil-on-panel portrait of Budé, produced around 1536 by Jean Clouet, a painter at the court of King Francis I of France. He was a very skilful painter and many fine portraits are attributed to him, but his picture of Budé is his only documented work, being mentioned in Budé's handwritten notes. The painting is now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Photograph credit: Leroy Skalstad
The 15th-century St. Joan of Arc Chapel was initially built in the village of Chasse-sur-Rhône, France. Originally called the Chapelle de St. Martin de Seyssuel, it is said to have been the place at which Joan of Arc prayed in 1429 after she had met King Charles VII of France. The present name was given to the chapel when Gertrude Hill Gavin, the daughter of an American railroad magnate, had the derelict building dismantled, transported to America and rebuilt beside her French Renaissance–style château in Brookville, New York, in 1927. The chapel was undamaged when the château burned down in 1962, and was later given to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, once more being transported stone by stone.
Painting credit: Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Graziella is an 1852 novel by the French author Alphonse de Lamartine. It tells of a young French man who falls in love with the eponymous character, a fisherman's granddaughter, during a trip to Naples, Italy; they are separated when he must return to France, and Graziella dies soon afterwards. The novel received popular acclaim; an operatic adaptation had been completed by the end of the year, and the work influenced paintings, poems, novels, and films. This 1878 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Jules Joseph Lefebvre shows Graziella sitting on a rock, fishing net in hand, gazing over her shoulder at a smoking Mount Vesuvius in the distance. The painting is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Lithograph credit: Jean-Baptiste Singry; restored by Adam Cuerden
Joséphine Fodor (13 October 1789 or in 1793 – 10 August 1870) was a French lyrical artist (soprano) with Hungarian and Dutch ancestors. Her family moved to Saint Petersburg when she was an infant, probably because of the French Revolution. After marrying in 1812, Fodor and her husband moved back to France when Saint Petersburg came under attack during the French invasion of Russia. She performed roles for the Opéra-Comique in Paris, later being engaged by the Comédie-Italienne, and also appeared in London, Venice, Naples and Vienna. Experiencing problems with her voice, she gradually ended her operatic career and withdrew from the stage. This lithograph depicts her in 1815.
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Coin design credit: Kingdom of France; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
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The écu was a gold and silver coinage system introduced in France in 1266 by Louis IX, so called because the coins featured the French coat of arms. The silver coin proved popular but the gold did not, because of the unrealistic ratio of 1:10 used, which did not properly reflect the metals' exchange rate. The écu remained in use for 500 years. Depicted here are two écu coins, the first made of gold and minted in 1641, in the reign of Louis XIII, and the second made of silver and minted in 1784, in the reign of Louis XVI. Between these two dates, exchange rates were unstable, new coins were issued, and existing ones revalued periodically.
Painting credit: Paul Cézanne
The Bathers is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Paul Cézanne, first exhibited in 1906. The painting is the largest of a series of paintings of bathers by the artist, and is considered a masterpiece of modern art. He worked on the painting for seven years, and it remained unfinished at the time of his death. Often considered Cézanne's finest work, it is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Photograph credit: Joe deSousa
The Palais Galliera, formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, is a museum of fashion and fashion history located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Following the death of her husband in 1876, the Duchess of Galliera gave land and funds for the erection of a museum to house his collection of paintings and fine art that she proposed to give to the state. The building was completed in 1894, but the collections were in fact donated to Genoa, Italy, where they are now displayed at the Palazzo Rosso and the Palazzo Bianco.
Painting credit: Jacques-Louis David
Étienne Maurice Gérard (4 April 1773 – 17 April 1852) was a French general, statesman and marshal of France. He served under a succession of French governments, including the monarchy of the Ancien Régime, the First Republic, the First Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, the July Monarchy, the Second Republic, and arguably the Second Empire, becoming prime minister briefly in 1834. This 1816 portrait of Gérard by Jacques-Louis David is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Painting credit: Marie-Gabrielle Capet
Marie-Gabrielle Capet (6 September 1761 – 1 November 1818) was a French Neoclassical painter. Until the French Revolution, the Royal Academy of Art in Paris was responsible for training artists and exhibiting artworks at the Salon, but limited the number of female students to four at a time. Unable to gain a place, she moved to Paris in 1781 to become a student of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, with whom she struck up a lifelong friendship. She specialised in painting portraits, her works including oil paintings, watercolours and miniatures. This oil-on-canvas self-portrait of Capet, dating from around 1783, is in the collection of the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.
Map credit: Louis Bretez and Claude Lucas
The Turgot map of Paris is a highly accurate and detailed map of the city of Paris, France, as it existed in the 1730s. It was published in 1739 as an atlas of twenty non-overlapping sectional bird's-eye-view maps, each approximately 50 cm × 80 cm (20 in × 31 in), in isometric perspective toward the southeast, as well as one simplified overview map with a four-by-five grid showing the layout of the twenty sectional maps. It has been described as "the first all-comprising graphical inventory of the capital, down to the last orchard and tree, detailing every house and naming even the most modest cul-de-sac". The complete map is shown here in its assembled form.
Other sheets:
Other sheets:
Photograph credit: Atelier Nadar; restored by Adam Cuerden
Georges Ernest Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche, was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the Third Republic, he won a series of elections and was feared to be powerful enough to establish himself as dictator at the zenith of his popularity in January 1889. This photograph of Boulanger was produced by the atelier of the French photographer Nadar.
Photograph credit: Claude Truong-Ngoc
Serge Gainsbourg (1928–1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop music, he was renowned for often provocative and scandalous releases which caused uproar in France, dividing its public opinion, as well as his diverse artistic output, which ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. He is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France, and he has become one of the country's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following all over the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. This photo of Gainsbourg was taken in 1981.
Archive[edit]
Archive is viewable at Portal:France/Featured Picture Archive