Fame Fighting, Bronze sculpture at Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France
Fame Fighting is a bronze sculpture on a pillar of Pont Alexandre III, depicting a gilded winged horse with extended wings. The monument rises about 17 meters high and belongs to a group of four similar winged figures positioned on the bridge.
Fame Fighting crowns one of the four corner pillars of the Pont Alexandre III, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle and inaugurated on 14 April 1900 by President Émile Loubet. Sculptor Pierre Granet, born in 1843, received the commission as part of the bridge's decorative programme, which paired gilded bronzes with the engineering of the single-span steel arch.
The four gilded groups on the Pont Alexandre III carry names tied to French history: Fame Fighting, Fame of the Arts, Fame of Commerce and Fame of Industry. Pierre Granet's figure stands on the right-bank upstream pillar, paired with Emmanuel Frémiet's companion group on the same bank. Visitors often photograph the gilded horse against the bridge's stone pylons.
The sculpture can be viewed from multiple spots along the Seine riverbanks or while crossing the bridge between the Grand Palais and Les Invalides. There are many vantage points from which you can see the figure in full.
The surface combines bronze casting with applied gold leaf decoration, showing advanced French metalworking technique from the late 1800s. This gilding gives the figure its gleaming appearance and required skilled hand labor and specialized knowledge.
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