remained controversial ever since. Le Vau may have been responsible for the use of the colonnade, possibly based on the 1664 design of his brother François, which employed paired, free-standing columns. A change in the order from Composite to Corinthian may have been due to the influence of Roland Fréart de Chambray, who was called to Paris to become a member of the Petit Conseil in 1668. At some point that same year the decision was made to double the width of the south wing. This resulted in the widening and redesign of both the south and north pavilions of the east facade. Perrault probably became the main designer in 1668 and was responsible for the final design. The severely designed colonnade overlooking the Place du Louvre — for which buildings including the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon were demolished to provide the necessary urban space — became widely celebrated. The pediment sculpture of 'Minerva surrounded by the Muses of Victory crowning the bust of Napoleon' is by François-Frédéric Lemot (1808-1810). Napoleon was later replaced by Louis XIV, although the face was kept. Interior Between 1807 and 1811, Percier and Fontaine created monumental staircases at the southern and northern ends of the wing behind the Colonnade, and projected a suite of prestige rooms between the two staircases on the first floor. The architectural sculpture of the southern staircase (Escalier du Midi) were created in the early 1810s by François Gérard, Auguste Marie Taunay, Augustin Félix Fortin, and . Digging out of the moat In 1964, the French Minister of Culture, André Malraux, ordered the digging out of the dry moat in front of the Colonnade. A characteristic feature of pre-classical French architecture, it is shown in nearly every project and early drawing of the east facade, and its reexcavation revealed the original soubassement, or podium (see the engraving from Blondel's book). The moat may have been filled in around 1674 to facilitate construction (see the engraving by Sébastien Leclerc) and not restored due to lack of funds to build the contrescarpe after Louis XIV's attention shifted to the Palace of Versailles. However, in 1981 Germain Bazin argued that the reconstruction of the moat was misguided, since for aesthetic reasons Louis XIV had never wanted it. Influence For centuries, the Colonnade has provided a model for many grand edifices in Europe and America: In Paris, Ange-Jacques Gabriel's buildings on the Place de la