Statue of Anne of Brittany, Marble statue in Jardin du Luxembourg, France
The Statue of Anne of Brittany is a standing white marble figure by Jean Debay, erected in 1847 in the Jardin du Luxembourg. The queen wears a crown and a wide-skirted gown with a mantle, her hands holding the folds of her dress; the statue rests on a stone pedestal among the garden's paths.
Jean Baptiste Joseph Debay created this marble work in 1846 as part of a series of French queens and famous women commissioned by King Louis Philippe I. The sculpture debuted publicly at the 1847 Paris Salon before finding its permanent home in the garden.
Anne of Brittany's name is tied to the garden's Breton connection: the Luxembourg was created for Marie de Médicis, and the 1846-1847 series of queens placed Anne among the royal women of France. Her two marriages, to Charles VIII in 1491 and Louis XII in 1499, kept the duchy attached to the crown.
The statue stands along the terrace on the garden's western edge, near the Palais du Luxembourg, facing the central basin. Enter from rue de Médicis or rue de Vaugirard; the gravel paths are level and wheelchair-accessible. It is one of the 20 Queens of France and Famous Women series, so look for the carved name on its pedestal to tell it apart from its neighbours.
The 1847 Salon catalogue lists the marble at 12,000 francs, the highest price among the queen and female figures Louis-Philippe commissioned for the Luxembourg. The same series includes works by other sculptors, so Debay's Anne was one entry in a larger program rather than a lone commission.
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