The Funeral of General Marceau and the Battle of Aboukir

Lower your gaze a little and you will see two reliefs on either side of the central arch. A relief is a sculpture carved into a flat surface.

The one on the right is titled "The Funeral of General Marceau." At its center lies a fallen soldier, mourned by his comrades. Marceau is known as a distinguished general of the French Revolutionary Wars. He is said to have commanded the retreat of the French army to the very end after its defeat by the Austrians at Altenkirchen, Germany, and died in 1796 at just 27. The relief captures his sacrifice for the French army.

To the left of the arch is "The Battle of Aboukir." It depicts the 1799 clash with the Ottoman army at Aboukir, Egypt, during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. On the left, mounted French troops are forcing the Ottomans on the right into submission. The battle is known as an overwhelming French victory: the French reportedly lost about 10 percent of their forces, while the Ottomans, despite outnumbering the French by more than two to one, lost around 90 percent and were virtually wiped out.