From the S&S archives: Parisians arch an eyebrow as landmark takes a bath

SINCE last spring, camera-laden tourists have circled the Arch of Triumph in Paris, trying to find an angle from which to photograph the darn thing.

The monument has grown a complex exterior skeleton of steel scaffolding and most of the time the arch has been half-swathed in green canvas. It is the first cleaning and repair for the landmark since it was built in the early 19th century to commemorate the victories of Napoleon.

The job won't be completed before May, and officials think it may continue into July or August. But some time next year tourists should have a sparkling clean structure to photograph — with sculpture and decoration renewed. The arch will look about as it did in 1836, when it was dedicated after 30 years a-building.

Much of the statuary, including a famed bas-relief by Francois Rude, which is known as "La Marseillaise," is undergoing extensive repair, with broken parts being redone from photographs in national files, and stuck into place with a special concrete.

The contractor, Entreprise Generale de Peinture, covered the surface of the 15-story-high arch with a latticework of metal scaffolding, joined like pieces of a giant erector set.

Men have been climbing around on this framework with large water hoses and brushes, scrubbing the stone surface until it is a light yellow. Sections of green canvas have been hoisted as they worked, to prevent water from splashing on passersby below.

Special little dams were built around the base of the arch to hold the falling water. A metal roof on wheels was rolled over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier of France, which lies under the arch. This prevents the wash water from extinguishing the eternal flame at the tomb.

The hoses snake upward from pumps which give high pressure to the water. When one of the men above wants the water stopped, he signals to a pump handler with the same motions used by an umpire who judges that a field goal attempt is no good.

Work on the arch began in May 1806, with plans drawn up by Jean-Francois Chalgrin. The work was often interrupted and delayed for political or financial reasons, so that the final cost was more than 9 million francs, a staggering sum at that time.

When the Arch of Triumph was finally inaugurated, Napoleon, who wanted it built, had been dead for 15 years. Four years later, his ashes were returned to Paris by a procession which passed under the great arch on the way to the emperor's tomb across the Seine.

The arch was viewed by Queen Victoria in 1855. Victor Hugo's body lay in state under the arch in 1885. On July 14, 1919. Allied troops marched under it in a victory parade, as did the troops on June 18, 1945.

The renovation, under a program of Culture Minister Andre Malraux to restore national monuments, is part of a gigantic cleaning program which is lightening the color of soot-darkened buildings throughout Paris.

Visitors may still climb a stairway or ascend by elevator to the roof of the arch for a remarkable view. On the way up, they may pause in a small museum inside the arch, which holds a collection of souvenirs.