La Méditerranée, Bronze statue in Carrousel Garden, Paris, France
La Méditerranée is a bronze sculpture by Aristide Maillol situated in the Carrousel Garden between the Louvre and Tuileries Garden. The work displays simple, geometric forms and stands approximately 1.1 meters tall and 0.78 meters wide.
Aristide Maillol created this bronze figure in 1905 during a period of major artistic change in Europe. The sculpture later became part of a collection of fourteen Maillol works assembled in this garden in 1964.
This bronze figure represents a shift in how French sculptors approached their work, embracing cleaner lines and simpler shapes. The piece shows how artists were moving toward a more modern visual language during its time.
The statue sits beneath mature trees near the Arc du Carrousel and is easy to reach from the main pathways of the garden. You can take time to explore all fourteen Maillol sculptures scattered throughout this same outdoor space without needing to move far.
The work was first shown in plaster at the 1905 Salon d'automne under the title Allégorie de la pensée, a name pointing to the introspective pose. Maillol only later called it La Méditerranée. The bronze in the Carrousel garden is one of several versions; others stand in the patio of Perpignan's Hôtel de ville and on Maillol's tomb at Banyuls-sur-Mer.
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