Jardin du Luxembourg

People relaxing in front of the Luxembourg Palace

The Jardin du Luxembourg is the largest public park (224,500 m² (22.5 hectares) located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Luxembourg is the garden of the French Senate, which is itself housed in the Luxembourg Palace.

Features

The garden is largely devoted to a green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model boats. The garden is famed for its calm atmosphere. Surrounding the pond are a series of statues of former French queens. In the southwest corner, there is an orchard of apple and pear trees and the théâtre des marionnettes (puppet theatre).The gardens include a large fenced-in playground for young children and their parents and a vintage carousel. In addition, free musical performances are presented in a gazebo on the grounds and there is a small cafe restaurant nearby, under the trees, with both indoor and outdoor seating from which many people enjoy the music over a glass of wine.

The École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris and the Odéon theatre stand next to the Luxembourg Garden.

Open hours depend on the month: opening between 7:30 and 8:15 am; closing between 4:45 and 9:45 pm.

Statuary

The garden contains just over a hundred statues, monuments, and fountains, scattered throughout the grounds. Surrounding the central green space are about twenty figures of historical French queens and female saints, standing on pedestals, including statues of Jeanne III of Navarre, Blanche of Castile, Anne of Austria, Louise of Savoy, and Anne of France.

Other sculptured work includes:

Monument to Jean-Antoine Watteau, by Henri Désiré Gauquié, 1896

• Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play, by André Joseph Allar, 1906
• Statue of Liberty, first model, by Frédéric Bartholdi, 1870
• La Bocca della Verità, by Jules Blanchard
• Ludwig von Beethoven, by Antoine Bourdelle, placed here 1978
• Monument to Henri Murger, by Théophile-Henri Bouillon, 1895
• multiple animal sculptures by Auguste Cain
• Le Triomphe de Silène, 1885, Hommage to Delacroix, 1890, and Monument to Auguste Scheurer-Kestner, 1908, both by Jules Dalou
• Monument to Jean-Antoine Watteau, by Henri Désiré Gauquié, 1896
• Narcissus, 1869, and Arion assis sur un dauphin, 1870, both by Ernest-Eugène Hiolle
• Hippomenes by Jean Antoine Injalbert
• Bust of Charles Baudelaire, by Pierre Félix Masseau
• Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea, the Fontaine Médicis, by Auguste Ottin, 1866
• Clémence Isaure by Antoine-Augustin Préault
• Theseus and the Minotaur, by Etienne-Jules Ramey, 1826
• Hercules Diverting the River Alpheus, 1900, and L'Effort, 1902, both by Pierre Roche
• Paul Verlaine, by Rodo (Auguste de Niederhäusern), 1911
• Monument to Édouard Branly, by Charles Marie Louis Joseph Sarrabezolles
• Georges Sand, by François-Léon Sicard, 1904
• Jules Massenet, by Raoul Verlet, 1926

Medici Fountain

The Medici Fountain

The Medici Fountain (fr: La fontaine Médicis) was built in 1630 by Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France and regent of King Louis XIII of France. It was designed by Tomasso Francini, a Florentine fountain maker and hydraulic engineer who was brought from Florence to France by King Henry IV. It was in the form of a grotto, a popular feature of the Italian Renaissance garden. It fell into ruins during the 18th century, but in 1811, at the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, the fountain was restored by Jean Chalgrin, the architect of the Arc de Triomphe. In 1864-66, the fountain was moved to its present location, the long basin of water was built, and the sculptures of the giant Polyphemus surprising the lovers Acis and Galatea, by French classical sculpture Auguste Ottin, were added to the grotto. ^[1]

Fountain of the Observatory

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: la Fontaine des Quatre-Parties-du-Monde

Fountain of the Observatory

At the southern tip of the Jardin du Luxembourg, technically the Jardin Marco Polo, stands the 1874 "Fountain of the Observatory", also known as the "Fontaine des Quatre-du-Parties-World" or the "Carpeaux Fountain", for its sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux . It was installed as part of the development of the Avenue de l'Observatoire by Gabriel Davioud in 1867.

The bronze fountain represents the work of four sculptors: Louis Vuillemot carved the garlands and festoons around the pedestal, Pierre Legrain carved the armillary with interior globe and zodiac band; the animalier Emmanuel Fremiet designed the eight horses, marine turtles and spouting fish. Most importantly Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux sculpted the four nude women supporting the globe, representing the Four Continents of classical iconography.

Images

Gardens in front of the Palais de Luxembourg	People relaxing in the "Luco"	The Luxembourg Palace seen from the garden
Panoramic view of the Jardin du Luxembourg	Marie de Médicis' fountain, now with Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea, by Auguste Ottin (1866)	Borders of annuals in August
A version of the Arrotino under a beech	Fontaine de l'Observatoire, at southern end	Original model of the Statue of Liberty

Sources and Citations

External links

• The Luxembourg Gardens page at the Project for Public Spaces
• The Jardin du Luxembourg - Current and old photographs of the garden, statues, fountains
• Detailed map with sculptures
• The Luxembourg Gardens at Twilight - One of a series of paintings featuring the gardens by American (b. Italy) artist John Singer Sargent
• Webpages about the Garden (French)

Bibliography

• André Arnold-Peltier, Vassili Karist, Le jardin du Luxembourg / The Luxembourg gardens, Éditions Pippa, collection Itinérances (ISBN 978-2-916506-00-4) (photos)

See also

Paris portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jardin du Luxembourg

• List of parks and gardens in Paris

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Coordinates: 48°50′49″N 2°20′14″E / 48.84694°N 2.33722°E / 48.84694; 2.33722