HD photographs of south side Daphne statue inside Jardin des Tuileries - Page 718
Again we were within the Jardin des Tuileries in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris, when we took these high definition photos showing the south side statue of Daphne, which was sculpted by Guillaume Coustou.
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This first HD photo shows the statue of Daphne, who was a Naiad in Greek mythology, and this mythological water nymph was depicted as though she was being chased by Apollo, the God of Music, which was sculpted by Guillaume Coustou.
Now Guillaume Coustou was born in 1677 and was the younger brother of Nicolas Coustou, and he also decided to go to Paris and study to become a French sculptor under the direction of his Uncle, Charles Antoine Coysevox, winning the Colbert Prize, which became known as the Prix de Rome.
Even though he did not fit in well at the French Academy in Rome and Guillaume Coustou left early to return to Paris, he also worked for King Louis XIV and King Louis XV at places such as the Marly Chateau, and having a son who also became a sculptor with the same name, Guillaume became known as Gullaume 1er, or Guillaume Coustou the Elder.
So this particular statue depicts Daphne, and in Greek mythology along with the story in Ovid's Metamorphoses, she was being pursued by Apollo, the God of Music, after he had been struck by Eros with a golden arrow making him fall in love with Daphne, yet this nymph was struck with a lead arrow in order to despise Apollo.
This is why the statue of Daphne you can see in this photo depicts her running away from Apollo, which was just before she was turned into a laurel tree after she begged her father to do this so that she could avoid being caught up with, and this was sculpted back in 1714 for the Marly chateau, which has since been destroyed.
Now Guillaume Coustou often used to work with his elder brother, Nicolas Coustou, and in many cases it is hard to distinguish who sculpted what piece of art, however, the original statue of Daphne has inscribed G Coustou on the upper surface of the plinth, at the base of the tree trunk on the back.
You will find that the pair of statues called Apollon Poursuivant Daphne or Daphne Poursuivie par Apollon, which in English translates to Daphne Pursued by Apollo, were designed to be placed within a carp pond at Marly, yet they were moved to the Jardin des Tuileries after the French Revolution in 1798, just a few years before the chateau itself was destroyed.
So it is quite apt that the two statues of Daphne and Apollo you can see in this photograph have been placed on tall pedestals within a pond in the Tuileries Gardens, that also has fish in it.
However, the original marble statues were removed from the garden in 1940 for their safety during World War II, and they were placed inside the popular tourist attraction of the Musee du Louvre, in order to maintain their preservation.
But the originals also ended up being fully restored between the years 2004 to 2006 and are still on display within The Louvre, yet as you as you can see, there is still a statue of Daphne and one of Apollo located in the fish pond within the Jardin des Tuileries.
Yet as you can see from this close up photo of Daphne, it looks as though it is a marble statue, but in fact, the Apollo Pursuing Daphne statues are both mouldings, or casts of the originals, which in French is the word moulage.
The statue of Daphne Chased by Apollo is one of four different running statues that were commissioned by the administration of kings buildings to adorn the gardens of the Chateau de Marly within the ornamental carp ponds, and represent to the change in sculpture during the late reign of King Louis XIV where statues were made more elegant and graceful.
And due to the fact that a watercolour painting was discovered showing how these four different statues were positioned within the park, which is now held within the Paris National Archives, this is how they are now presented within the Tuileries Gardens, with statues of Daphne and Apollo in one pond and the other two in the pond on the opposite side of the Allee Centrale.
Here you can see a close up photo showing the tourist information plaque located on the ground in front of the pond that holds the statues of Apollon Poursuivant Daphne, and although it states on this the sculptors name of Nicolas Coustou, as you have read prior, the statue of Daphne was actually produced by his brother Guillaume Coustou the Elder.
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