In 1805, Napoléon Bonaparte promised “triumphal arches” to his troops after they won the Battle of Austerlitz. The first arch that he commissioned was the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile (the Triumphal Arch of the Star) in Paris, commonly known as the Arc de Triomphe, and construction began on Aug. 15, 1806, Bonaparte’s birthday.  As a great admirer of the fine arts of antiquity, Bonaparte charged architect Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin to look at classical architecture for inspiration. Chalgrin looked to the Arch of Titus (A.D. 81) in Rome for his design, although the Arc de Triomphe has no columns. The 164-foot, neoclassical arch shows scenes of dynastic life as well as battle scenes, which differs from the classical tradition of triumphal arches that depict military victories only.  The east façade faces the Champs-Élysées, which in Bonaparte’s time would have faced the Tuileries, or the royal and then the emperor’s imperial palace. (The palace was destroyed …