France crowning Art and Industry
Encyclopedia
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
sculpture group which decorated the top of the entrance of Palais de l'Industrie, the main building of the 1855 international exhibition
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. It was moved to the park of Saint-Cloud
Château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
in 1900 when the palais de l'Industrie was demolished. The center group, composed of the three allegories
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
(France, Art and Industry) is a work by sculptor Élias Robert
Élias Robert
Élias Robert is a French sculptor. His major works include :* Phryne, Louvre museum * France crowning Art and Industry...
. The two putti
Putto
A putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
groups located on its sides are by Georges Diebolt
Georges Diebolt
Georges Diebolt, sometimes spelled Diébolt, was a French sculptor best known for his publicly-commissioned monumental works, including the Zouave and Grenadier on the pont de l'Alma in Paris and the Maritime Victory on the Pont des Invalides.-Life:Trained at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts in...
. The wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
s France was carrying in her hands and most of the rays of the radiant crown she wears have now disappeared.
Iconographic precedents
This sculpture is thought to have been inspired by Pierre CartellierPierre Cartellier
Pierre Cartellier was a French sculptor.Born in Paris, he studied at the École Gratuite de Dessin in Paris and then in the studio of Charles-Antoine Bridan before attending the Académie Royale. During the French Revolution Cartellier was part of a team of sculptors who worked on the church of Ste...
's bas-relief Victory in a quadriga distributing wreaths (1810), at the East entrance of the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
palace, and to be a possible inspiration for the New York Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
.
A bas-relief on the same subject : France distributing wreaths to the Arts and Industry, sculpted by Jean-Baptiste Louis Roman in 1830, is located on the wall behind the seat of the president of the National Assembly in the hemicycle of Palais Bourbon
Palais Bourbon
The Palais Bourbon, , a palace located on the left bank of the Seine, across from the Place de la Concorde, Paris , is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government.-History:...
.
In 1851, Georges Diebolt
Georges Diebolt
Georges Diebolt, sometimes spelled Diébolt, was a French sculptor best known for his publicly-commissioned monumental works, including the Zouave and Grenadier on the pont de l'Alma in Paris and the Maritime Victory on the Pont des Invalides.-Life:Trained at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts in...
sculpted La France rémunératrice (Remunerative France), a colossal female figure wearing and distributing wreaths, for a ceremony of awards on the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
, for the French industrialists who had been distinguished at the London Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
. A small size bronze reduction which was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
is now in Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
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