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Lyon
Rhône Rhône-Alpes Place Carnot (2e) |
Statue de la RépubliqueStatue of the Republic |
Émile Peynot
1889 |
On a 15 meter/50 feet high base stands a 7½ meter/25 feet tall allegorical woman (Marianne) representing the Republic. She wears a Phrygian cap and caresses a lion's head with her right hand and holds an olive branch (symbol of peace) with her left hand. At the top of the base is a frieze with reliefs of the symbols of the republic: the Gallic rooster trampling a snake, a double cornucopia with the Phrygian cap, and a double cornucopia with the symbol of the city of Lyon (?). Below this frieze are the dates 1848 - 1870.
Gallic rooster and snake |
Cornucopia and Phrygian cap |
Cornucopia and symbol of the city of Lyon (?) |
Originally, around the base are six other allegories: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, the allegory of Lyon, the Rhône and Saône.
The statue is inaugurated in 1889 at the centenary of the Revolution. The work of the metro in 1975 forced to 'deconstruct' the monument. About this deconstruction of the monument, Gamboni wrote in 1997:
"The monument to the Republic completed in 1894, which greeted the people coming from the station and acted symbolically as a riposte to the equestrian statue of Louis XIV on Place Bellecour, was dismantled. The higher part of the pedestal with the figure of the Republic was removed to one side of the square, the allegory of Lyon, was placed on the opposite side, the three groups symbolizing the Republican virtues of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity were relegated to a small park in a suburban working-class quarter, and the personifications of the rivers were destroyed. Apparently, the monument had to be relocated because its weight would have endangered the subway tunnel. A sculptor consulted by Louis Pradel, the Mayor, had proposed eliminating it entirely, and replacing it with a new statue of the Republic of his own creation; his project was judged too expensive, however, and the Mayor's own cheaper dispersal scheme was chosen."
On this website, the Allegory of the city of Lyon is here and those of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are here.
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