Statue of the Empress Joséphine, Marble monument in La Savane, Fort-de-France, Martinique.
The Statue of the Empress Joséphine was a white Carrara marble figure in a long imperial mantle, holding a medallion of Napoleon I, standing on a tiered pedestal with Corinthian pilasters and bronze plaques. It stood in La Savane in Fort-de-France, Martinique, from 1859 until its destruction in 2020.
The monument was commissioned under Napoleon III and created by sculptor Gabriel Vital Dubray before being unveiled in 1859. The site later became central to historical debate when it was relocated to its current location in 1974.
The monument was commissioned by Napoleon III, Joséphine's grandson, who donated 12,000 francs and the Carrara marble. Its 1859 inauguration brought three days of festivities, including a 200-seat banquet and a display of Creole products. The statue was destroyed in 2020, and in 2025 a court ruled the act militant political action, acquitting the defendants.
The statue no longer exists: it was torn down on 26 July 2020, so there is nothing left to see at the site on the western edge of La Savane, along Rue de la Liberté. The empty spot can be reached on foot and is openly accessible. Nearby, the statue of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was also pulled down around the same time.
The statue no longer exists: on 26 July 2020 activists of the Rouge-Vert-Noir collective tore it down during the protests that followed George Floyd's death. The head, cut off in September 1991, was never found. On 17 November 2025 the Fort-de-France court ruled both this destruction and that of the Belain d'Esnambuc statue militant political acts and acquitted the defendants.
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