The Statue
of Liberty is back in the Luxembourg Gardens. Actually it’s a new copy. The
previous original one (offered by the creator, F.A. Bartholdi) stood here until
2012, when it was transferred to the Orsay Museum (see also previous post).
This is not
the first time I have posted (see here) about the Luxembourg Gardens, but I wanted to make
a more complete post on all (?) the sculptures you may find in this great park.
Originally the park was initiated, in the beginning of the 17th century,
by Marie de’ Medici, widow of King Henry IV, mother of Louis XIII and
grandmother of Louis XIV. It surrounds the Luxembourg Palace (see previous
posts here), now housing the French Senate.
But… maybe
first some general pictures taken a rather cold day, early morning, with rather
few people around.
Here is a
view of the palace, the pond in front of it and some statues.
This part of the
park is surrounded by statues of a number of French Queens and some allegorical,
symbolic figures.
According
to this detailed site created by the Senate, there are 106 statues around. I
believe I found almost all of them. So, let's start with some more, the first one is called
“Triomphe de Silène” by Jules Dalou (1838-1902) (see previous post) . We can also find a lion by Auguste Cain (1822-94) – a sculptor who is very present in the
Tuileries Gardens (see here) -, an homage to the poet Paul Eluard by Ossip Zadkine
(1890-1967)....
Many
statues are dedicated to authors, composers, scientists, statesmen…
If you want
to know more about these personalities, here are the links: Verlaine, Zweig, Baudelaire, Fabre, LePlay…
… Watteau,
Sand, Ségur, Ratisbonne…
… De Heredia,
Sainte Beuve, Mendes-France, Delacroix (another statue by Dalou)…
Many other personalities
are portrayed on the facade of the Orangery.
Before
leaving the park, maybe a look on what has been done for the future of the
plants, the bees and other insects…
… and for
the visually impaired.
At last, in
the park you can also find a number of “Arago plates”, indicating the Paris
meridian. (See previous post on the Paris Observatory.)
Posts
6 comments:
J'en ai photographié quelques unes quand je suis allée visiter le Sénat.
Good grief, Peter! I think you found everything! I feel like such a slacker, knowing I didn't see a quarter of these during my time in this beautiful garden! Next time I'll have to take am uch closer look!
Thanks again for all the detailed research and great photos.
Lucy
La importancia cultural de este destacado punto de referencia es abrumadora.
Gracias por tan brillante articulo.
Mabel
Comme je l'aime ce jardin. Terrain de jeux de mon enfance . Il est beau, culturel. Il plait autant au petits qu'au grands. Et il y a du beau monde dans ce jardin.
Really all the photos are nice and admirable which simply attracts the more number of tourists. Even though i have been working as a research paper writer in one of the leading online research writing service website, i find free time in a very hard way as in most of the time i will be indulged in writing the client's assigned writing works. If i find any free time this week means, then definitely i will switch over to this place as this is a place where we can develop our knowledge too.
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