The Jardin du Luxembourg is the perfect oasis on the left bank of Paris. Recently we have shared a few of the more than 105 statues and monuments on the Paris History Avec a Hemingway on the La Vie Creative podcast. You can take these episodes with you as you explore the garden on your own, or better yet book a tour with me when you come to Paris.
I have a tough time narrowing down my “favorite” pieces of art in the Louvre and Orsay and the Jardin du Luxembourg is no different. It’s impossible but one that is very high on my favorites list is Le Marchand de Masques by Zacharie Astruc—located in the center of the southeast path under a canopy of trees.
Le Marchand de Masques, the mask seller, was created on February 17, 1883, in plaster and shown to the State that commissioned statues left and right for the garden. Astruc’s statue of a boy surrounded by the greats of the time was an instant favorite and ordered on the spot. It took almost three years and on February 20, 1886, the statue of a boy was inaugurated.
Zacharie Astruc was an artist and an art critic and very close with a rag-tag group of young guys shaking up the art scene in Paris. As an art critic, he defended Manet, Monet, and the Impressionists when very few did and was even immortalized with them in Henri Fantin-Latour’s Atelier aux Batignolles hanging in the Orsay.
I love to find group paintings and sculptures and deep dive into who they are all and this one is a real goodie. Buckle up and let’s jump in. The young boy is surrounded on the base by eight masks of contemporary figures of the time. Authors, composers, and artists, many of which aren’t as well known today, which always makes it so much fun for me to dig into.
When the sculpture was first unveiled in 1886 there were twelve masks, today we see only nine. First things first, In his left hand he holds high above his head the mask of the king of the Romantic authors Victor Hugo. Hugo died just one year before the statue was displayed in the Luxembourg but was no stranger at that point to statues dedicated to him at this point in his life. It’s rather fitting that he is seen at the top as each of the men below in one way or another.
At the base where you can get nice and close let’s jump into the eight men. Starting in the front we see author Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly. Born on November 2, 1808, in Normandy, Jules was a mystery writer that at times ventured into horror and obscure crimes. A defender of fellow artists Balzac and Baudelaire while he also criticized Zola and Hugo. Aurevilly died in Paris on April 23, 1889.
Next to Aurevilly is Alexandre Dumas fils, the illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas, bien sûr. Born in 1824, the author used his time with courtesan Marie Duplessis as inspiration for La Dame aux Camélias in 1848. In the story, Marguerite would wear a camelia against her chest, white when she was available and red when she was taken. He spent much of his life working against the feelings he had of his childhood but made just as big of a name for himself as a writer as his father did.
Composer and writer Hector Berlioz was born on December 11, 1803. Largely unknown you can just watch France in the World Cup this week and hum along to a little piece he did. Berlioz updated and added the elaborately orchestrated flair to the French national anthem, La Marseillaise written by Rouget de Lisle. Written by Lisle in 1795 it was outlawed during the Restoration but returned in 1830.
Next to Berlioz is a name you may recognize as a devoted reader. Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, born May 11, 1827, studied under Francois Rude and became the darling of Napoleon III as he carved through the city. The Danse, which caused him much notoriety on the Palais Garnier was attacked with ink for its risque depiction of nudity. You can see the original now in the Musée d’Orsay along with the model for the Fontaine des Quatre-Parties de Monde and the Pavillon de Flore on the southwest corner of the Louvre.
Jean-Baptiste Faure was a composer and opera singer born in Moulins on January 15, 1830. His father served as a cantor at Notre Dame. As a young man, he worked as the assistant to the organist at Notre Dame and Notre Dame de Chardonnet. What he may be known a bit more for is his immense collection of Impressionist paintings. He first collected the works of Ingres, Duprey, and two gents on this monument, Delacroix and Corot. In 1878 Faure purchased a painting that shocked all of Paris, Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Alongside more than 65 other Manets, he also had 16 by Degas, 37 by Pisarro, and 58 by Sisley. As well as many more amassing over 800 paintings held in his apartment. He frequently sold many thorough dealers Paul Durand-Ruel. After Manet’s death, Faure and Durand-Ruel organized a large exhibit but didn’t put him in a good light with the artist’s family that saw him as a vulture.
The man next to Faure needs no introduction at all. My main man Eugene Delacroix and if you are keeping count, it is the 3rd time he appears in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Born on April 26, 1798, the young Delacroix moved to Paris in 1806 and began to study in the atelier of Narcisse Guérin and at 24 years old he shared his first piece in the Salon. Delacroix believed that artists should contribute large pieces to public places as that is how they will be remembered. Hotel de Ville, Palais Bourbon, and the Palais du Luxembourg as well as multiple churches including the nearby Saint Sulpice. Delacroix moved to the Rue de Furstemberg on December 28, 1857, to be closer to Saint Sulpice where he was installing three paintings dedicated to angels. Commissioned in 1849 they were finally finished in 1861. In a letter to a friend, he said they would be the death of him. On August 13, 1863, the master died in his home not far from this spot.
Author Honoré de Balzac was the master of novels as we know them today. Born on May 20, 1799, he was immediately sent off to live with a nurse for the first four years of his life. The feelings he had of his early childhood would remain with him his whole life. Balzac lived all over Paris trying to outrun his creditors and writing at a breakneck speed. La Comedie Humaine paved the way for the writers of today. Written from 1830 to 1856, Balzac continues the stories from one book to the next, the first “series”. The image of Balzac is a little less frightening in Austruc’s version as opposed to Rodin’s which I am sure Balzac would be pleased with,
Lastly, we have artist Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot born on July 16, 1796, in Paris on the Rue du Bac. His parents ran a successful clothing and wig shop and wanted him to follow in their footsteps but art was on his mind. Traveling throughout Europe he was able to devote all his time to the landscapes and architecture of Italy and France, many of which can be seen in the Louvre. Corot is known as the Father of Impressionism and one only needs to walk to the end of the 2nd floor of the Sully wing in the Louvre to see how it went from Delacroix to Corot to the Impressionists.
Originally three other masks hung from the seller’s right hand but disappeared over time. The mask of Léon Gambetta, politician and president of the French Council who was greatly opposed to Napoleon III and lover of Valtese de la Bigne. Today his heart is placed in a very large urn as you enter the crypt of the Pantheon and a monument once stood dedicated to him in the Cour Napoleon of the Louvre where the Pyramid now greets guests.
Charles Gounod, a composer of more than 500 pieces was born on the nearby Place Saint Andre des Arts on June 17, 1818, and also studied theology at Saint Sulpice.
And lastly a mask of Theodore de Banville, a poet and great friend to Victo Hugo and Arthur Rimbaud and urged the young poet to come to Paris.
I hope you venture a little deeper and closer at all the great statues in the Jardin du Luxembourg and all over Paris and even take this with you when you go.
Coming to Paris soon, book a tour with me and I will share all these and so many more with you, All tours are private and customized to what you want to see,
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