My Favorite Sculptures in Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris

In 2008, when I arrived in my hotel in Paris, I was very pleased to find out that my hotel was very close to the lovely Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg) and I took daily strolls along the beautiful Boulevard Saint-Michel to the garden in order to savor the tranquility there, and to enjoy the companionship of over one hundred statues, monuments, and fountains, mostly in the classical restrained style, plus a few flamboyant modernistic works scattered about on the vast ground (left).

Of these metal or stone statues, I was particularly fond of a bronze one - Faun Dancing on a Wineskin, by Eugène-Louis Lequesne (1851), perhaps because of its convenient location - the faun stood close to the boulevard, facing the main square, just inside wrought-iron fences, always ready to greet me with his infectious wave and the inaudible horn.  It was very dynamic and full of movement and energy; at the same time, the form of the faun, or the boy, was classically graceful and a pure delight to the eyes.  Finally, it had a rich patina of aged bronze, contrasting nicely to the youthful dancing figure.


Faun Dancing on a Wineskin, bronze by Eugène-Louis Lequesne (1851)

My second favorite statue in the Garden was a stone statue, La Bocca della Verità by Jules Blanchard, referring to the Roman legend that one tells a lie with one's hand in the Mouth of the Truth, it would be bitten off.  The one in Roma was just a round plate of face; here a female nude made an almost teasing gesture of putting her hand inside the mouth of a quite small shield-shaped face, held in her other hand, as if she was petting a not always obedient pet, whimsical and full of fun.  It often brought faint smiles to its viewers and for that one must be grateful.


La Bocca della Verità, statue by Jules Blanchard


La Bocca della Verità, statue by Jules Blanchard

My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 66:  My Favorite Paintings at Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 64: My Favorite Sculpture and Painting at Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited


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