Velléda contemplant la demeure d'Eudore, Marble sculpture in the 6th arrondissement, Paris, France

Velléda contemplant la demeure d'Eudore is a marble sculpture that shows a woman in a thoughtful pose gazing into the distance. The artwork displays careful craftsmanship with detailed carving in the fabrics and the human figure.

Hippolyte Maindron won the 1844 competition for a marble statue of Velléda for the Jardin du Luxembourg, where it was installed among the series of figures of famous women. The subject comes from Chateaubriand's novel Les Martyrs, in which the druidess Velléda watches the home of her beloved Eudore. Maindron exhibited the plaster at the 1844 Salon.

The figure of Velléda comes from ancient literature and became a fashionable subject in 19th-century French art. She appears in a contemplative pose that continues to attract the attention of people walking through the garden.

The sculpture sits in the Jardin du Luxembourg and is freely accessible as part of the garden's artworks. Visitors should explore the park during daylight to fully appreciate the marble details and the surrounding green setting.

The marble was shown at the 1844 Paris Salon, where Maindron's Velléda earned him a second-class medal; the state then commissioned the version now in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Look for the crescent moon and the torch among the figure's attributes, markers of the druidess from Chateaubriand's novel Les Martyrs.