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Rhône-Alpes

Jardin du 8 Mai 1945

Monument à Michel Servet

Monument for Michel Servetus

Villanueva de Sigena, Aragon 1511 - Genève 1553
Spanish (then French) theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist; since 1540 he was physician in Vienne; burnt at the stake for heresy
(Wikipedia)
Joseph Bernard
1911

Vienne /  Monument à Michel Servet   Vienne /  Monument à Michel Servet

Description

Stone statue of Michel Servetus, his hands tied behind his back, his legs and toes clenched with pain. No story, no factual element: no vintage clothing; the instrument of his execution, the pyre, is not mentioned; the only reminder of the story is the book attached to his chest, Michel Servet being burned at the same time as his writings.
The statue stands on a high pedestal. On the right side of the pedestal stands the Remorse, symbolically with his back to the monument, which was accentuated by the width of the back. The painful face on the folded arm shows his despondency. The pose is close to a famous work of Rodin, the Armless Meditation.
On the left is the Group of Youth and Reason: Reason is the woman with in a large drapery that advances to protect the couple of youth: these two young people with a serene face, who look away, are the image of a new humanity that, guided by reason, looks to the future with confidence.

Vienne - Monument à Michel Servet Vienne - Monument à Michel Servet

Sculptor

Sources & Information

Tags

  • Country: France
  • Bernard, Joseph
  • Polymath
  • Reason
  • Remorse
  • Servetus, Michael
  • Statue (man)
  • Youth
  • Locatie (N 45°31'16" - E 4°52'11") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

    Item Code: frra230; Photograph: 15 August 2018
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    © Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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