Art
My ten favorite Parisian statues and relief sculptures
Feel the Human Joy – Sadness – Suffering -Thoughts -Tragedy
Have you noticed how many statues you can see outdoors in Paris?
Everywhere you look you can see a statue or a sculpture in marble, bronze or stone.
I love wandering through Parisian’s gardens and parks. They offer so much if you have time to look around. They are like an open air museum, a real outdoor history and art book.
No need to go to a museum to see a Maillol or a Rodin!
The churches, cathedrals, bridges and fountains all around the French capital can teach us so much as well.
It is worth stopping to admire those beautiful works of art. Sometimes the artists, unknown to us, make us experience the human feelings like other more famous artists can.
Below are my ten favorite ones:
1. Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris, right Portal
What an amazing work from the medieval ages!
I really love this close up on the portal of the front facade (Right Portal). The sun is shining on the faces and you can almost feel happy for the people.
2. Petit Palais Museum in Paris
The Four Seasons, Petit Palais, Paris
This sculpture ‘The four seasons’ is by Louis Convers. The French artist is from the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
I took this picture just before sunset.
3. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Bird on a statue, Gardens of the Tuileries in Paris
The bird standing on this statue seized my attention when I took this picture in the Fall.
4. Versailles Gardens Petit Trianon – Temple of Love
‘Cupid Cutting His Bow from the Club of Hercules’
The statue was made by Edmé Bouchardon from 1739-50.
Edmé Bouchardon was a French sculptor and architect (born in 1698 – died in 1762). He got the Prizes of Rome and from the Royal Academy for Painting and Sculpting.
5. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Le Tibre by Pierre Bourdict
The statue by Pierre Bourdict (1688- 1690) called The Tiber – Fer à Cheval, is another one to admire.
Pierre Bourdict was a French sculptor from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century. He made this in Rome.
The Tiber is a Roman river.
6. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
The Crowd by Raymond Mason
This a close up of a large sculpture in bronze by Raymond Mason (1963-67) called ‘The Crowd’.
This British sculptor, who died on February 13th, 2010, tried to depict in this sculpture, with full details, a crowd of 99 people.
This is in the park along Rue de Rivoli.
7. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Cain
The sculpture by Henri Vidal (1896) represents Cain after having killed his brother Abel.
Cain and Abel were the two sons of Adam and Eve.
Not much is known about Vidal.
8. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Centaur Nessos kidnapping Déjanire to rape her
Marble statue, ‘Centaur Nessos raping Déjanire’, by the French sculptor Laurent Marqueste (French, 1848–1920).
Marqueste did some works for the Gare d’ Orsay, Grand Palais, Garden of Luxemburg, Bridge Alexandre III and for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900.
A centaur was a creature in Greek mythology which was half horse, half human.
In the Greek myth, Déjanire was married with Hercules. Nessos tried to rape Déjanire and Hercules killed him with a poisoned arrow.
9. Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris
Cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris, Portal of the Last Judgment (Central Portal)
This is a relief sculpture of the Cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris. It is the Portal of the Last Judgment (Central Gate). Here the devil is trying to interfere with the Angel Gabriel who is weighing the souls.
Unfortunately it is not the original. It was damaged in 1770’s. Today viewers can enjoy the restored work of Viollet-Le-Duc.
10. Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
La Comédie from Julien Toussaint Roux, Garden of the Tuileries
Julien Toussaint Roux, a sculptor from the 19th century, is presenting here “La Comédie”. It was made during the last years of his life in 1874.
