France Crowning Art and Industry
France Crowning Art and Industry is a limestone sculpture group measuring 6.50 m high. It originally decorated the top of the entrance to the Palais de l’Industrie, the main building of the 1855 international exhibition in Paris. The group was moved to Saint-Cloud park in 1900, after the demolition of the Palais de l’Industrie. The central group, made up of the three allegories of France, Art, and Industry, was created by the sculptor Élias Robert. The two putti groups on either side are by Georges Diebolt. Some of the crowns held by France, and most of the rays of her radiant crown, have been lost.
© Fred Romero · CC BY 2.0
September 2023 © Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Unknown authorUnknown author · Licence Ouverte
© Unknown authorUnknown author · Licence Ouverte
© Anonyme, photographe · CC0
Identification | |
| Title | France crowning Art and Industry |
| Type | Sculpture group |
Historical context | |
| Date | 1855 |
| Purpose | Decorated the top of the entrance to the Palais de l'Industrie for the 1855 International Exposition in Paris |
Creator | |
| Central group sculptor | Élias Robert |
| Side groups sculptor | Georges Diebolt |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Original location | Top of the entrance to the Palais de l'Industrie in Paris |
| Current location | Parc de Saint-Cloud |
| Transfer date | 1900 |
| Reason for transfer | The Palais de l'Industrie was demolished |
Physical characteristics | |
| Composition | Central group of France, Art, and Industry, with two groups of putti on the sides |
| Height | 6.50 m (21 ft) |
Materials | |
| Material | Limestone |
Appearance | |
| Central figure | France |
| Iconographic elements | France wears a radiant crown and formerly held crowns in her hands |
History and restoration | |
| Condition | The crowns France held in her hands have been lost, and most of the rays of the radiant crown she wears are missing |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Subject | An allegory of France crowning Art and Industry |
Significance | |
| Possible inspiration | Thought to have been inspired by Pierre Cartellier's bas-relief "Victory in a quadriga distributing wreaths" (1810) at the east entrance of the Louvre Palace |
| Possible influence | Possible inspiration for the Statue of Liberty in New York City |
Other | |
| Related work on the same subject | "France distributing wreaths to the Arts and Industry" by Jean-Baptiste Louis Roman (1830), on the wall behind the president's seat of the French National Assembly in the hemicycle of the Palais Bourbon |
| Related work | "France rémunératrice" by Georges Diebolt (1851), a colossal female figure carrying and distributing crowns, made for a prize-giving ceremony on the Champs-Élysées for French industrialists distinguished at the Great Exhibition of London |
| Related work exhibit | A small bronze reduction of "France rémunératrice" was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855 and is now in the Musée d'Orsay |
| Image date | 2009 |
| Historic image date | 1855 |
| Plaque information | Plaque recalling the transfer from Paris to Saint-Cloud in 1900 |