Maternity, Stone statue in Square Adolphe-et-Jean-Chérioux, Paris, France.

Maternity is a stone sculpture by Alphonse-Amédée Cordonnier, set in a square in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. It shows a seated mother holding her child, carved in the round with attention to the folds of drapery and the faces. The group stands outdoors among the square's plantings.

Maternity is a marble group carved by Alphonse-Amédée Cordonnier, who won the Prix de Rome in 1879 and taught at the École des beaux-arts in Lille. The work was placed in the square alongside a companion figure, Histoire, as part of the decoration of the 15th arrondissement's public spaces. Cordonnier, born in La Bassée in 1841, also made monuments to figures such as the painter Watteau.

This work depicts a mother and child, reflecting the importance of family bonds in French artistic expression during the late 1800s. The placement in a public square made such domestic scenes visible to everyday passersby rather than keeping them in galleries.

The statue sits in a public square in the 15th district and is easy to reach on foot from the surrounding neighborhood. Visit during daylight hours to see the stone carving details clearly illuminated by natural light.

This work shares the square with a companion sculpture called Histoire, creating a pairing that contrasts two different artistic visions in one space. Standing together, they form a deliberate artistic dialogue that visitors can experience from multiple viewing angles.