Reference

The Lescot Wing of the Louvre Palace. The Lescot Wing (Aile Lescot in French, also Aile Henri II) is the oldest preserved structure above ground of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France.It was designed by architect Pierre Lescot and built between 1546 and 1551. Its architecture is influenced by Italian Mannerism. [1] It had seminal influence on what became the Parisian Renaissance style, and

Inside the North Wing were prestige apartments for some of the regime's principal figures, including those of the Minister of State (long mistakenly attributed to the Duke of Morny and now known as the appartements Napoléon III),[10]: 7  served by a monumental staircase later known as the escalier du ministre; administrative offices for the ministère d'Etat, the short-lived ministère de l'Algérie et des Colonies (1858-1860),[6]: 18  the ministère de la Maison de l'Empereur (separated from the ministère d'Etat in 1860),[11] and (briefly) the ministère des Beaux-Arts created in early 1870;[12][13] the Directorate of Telegraphs;[6]: 18  barracks for the Imperial Guard;[14]: 35  and the Bibliothèque du Louvre (formerly bibliothèque impériale under Napoleon and bibliothèque du Cabinet du Roi under the Restoration[6]: 20 ), personal property of the emperor but open to the public, on the upper floor between the Pavillon Richelieu and the rue de Rivoli.[2]: 176  The latter was acceded by the monumental escalier de la Bibliothèque (known since the late 19th century as escalier Lefuel), with sculpted decoration by Lefuel's friend Marie-Noémi Cadiot.[15] Initial plans to locate the Minister of the Interior in the North Wing's eastern half were abandoned in the late 1850s.[10]: 24 

The Richelieu wing (north wing which borders the rue de Rivoli) is the most recent in the long history of the construction of the Louvre. It was built under Napoleon III and housed for more than a century, from 1871 to 1989, the Ministry of Finance.