HD photographs of Mercure Monte sur Pegase statue in Tuileries Gardens Paris - Page 945
We were in the 1st Arrondissement at the Jardin des Tuileries when we took these high definition photos showing an equestrian statue called Mercure Monte sur Pegase, which was sculpted by Antoine Coysevox.
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This first HD panoramic photo shows the equestrian statue called Mercure Monte su Pegase, which translates in English to Mercury Mounted on Pegasus, and this can be found at the western entrance to the Tuileries Gardens by the Place de la Concorde.
Now Pegasus is the legendary winged horse, or stallion, in Greek mythology, who is often referred to as a symbol of poetry, yet Mercury is one of the Gods in Roman mythology, relating to financial gain, commerce, travellers and as a messenger, who is commonly portrayed holding a staff with two snakes.
It was actually back in 1697, after the Treaty of Ryswick that King Louis XIV instructed the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart to commission different statues to adorn his hunting lodge castle, called the Chateau de Marly, and it was the French sculptor Antoine Coysevox whom Jules Hardouin-Mansart commissioned for a pair of equestrian statues in 1698.
So as we mentioned the Mercury Mounted on Pegasus is one of a pair of statues, with the other being called Fame Mounted on Pegasus, and both of these were created from Carrara marble in under two years between 1701 and 1702, and they were classed as a technical masterpiece due to the fact that something of this size had never before been sculpted out of marble in France.
In fact, Carrara marble, which comes from a city in Italy with the same name, is the preferred choice of marble for sculptors due to its quality, and both of these equestrian mythological equestrian statues were carved from monolithic blocks of marble, which meant they had no joins, however, being that Carrara marble can also be fragile, it was a major show of the skill that Antoine Coysevox had.
When the Mercure Monte sur Pegase and the accompanying statue were finished, they were positioned either side of balustrades that overlooked the horse pond or trough basin at the entrance to the grounds of Chateau de Marly, however, they were moved from Marly to the entrance of the Tuileries Gardens in 1719.
This next photo shows a close up of Mercury, the God of Trade and Arts riding on the winged horse Pegasus, and this entire statue was also created by Antoine Coysevox after he had invented a model sculpture, rather than in the past where sculptors had always produced works from the designs of Charles le Brun and Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
However, the story is most definitely far from over, as what you can see in this photograph looking towards the Mercure Monte sur Pegase at the western entrance of the Jardin des Tuileries while we were standing in the Place de la Concorde, is an exact copy of the masterpiece that was put in place in 1986, so that the original could be preserved within the famous Musee du Louvre.
So the original statue can be found within the inner courtyard of the Richelieu wing of the Louvre Museum called the Cour de Marly, named after the statues that came from the former chateau, which was destroyed after the French Revolution, but for those of you who do not wish to go inside the famous museum, this can still be seen when visiting the Tuileries Gardens.
Yet taking a step back in time, the idea of a horse rearing above armour was to glorify King Louis XIV during peace time and the prosperity of France after the Treaty of Ryswick, with one representing the benefits of peace and the other for strength, like in war or battle, so in this HD photo you can see military trophies including a shield evoking the Spanish Succession with Minerva, the Goddess of War.
But this is another close up photograph showing where Antoine Coysevox had inscribed the base of the statue on the original Carrara marble sculpture, which has been replicated in this exact cast, and although it is hard to make out, it reads Antonius Coysevox Lugd.Scul.Reg.Fecit.1702, which is in Latin rather than French, but proudly put to draw attention to the fact that he produced these in under two years.
Whereas this image shows us looking past the equestrian statue of Mercury Mounted on Pegasus towards the Big Wheel that had been set up at the Place de la Condorde with the most famous tourist attraction in Paris of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, along with the roof of the Grand Palais to the right hand side.
We have mentioned the artist several times already, yet he was actually born in Lyon in 1640 with a full name of Charles Antoine Coysevox and arriving in the Versailles area of Paris in 1679, he quickly became the favourite sculptor of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, which led to him executing many statues and decorations for the fabulous Chateau de Versailles, before working on the Chateau de Marly for King Louis XIV.
Therefore, due to the fact that although he was born well over 300 years ago, Charles Antoine Coysevox is well recognised and many works can be still be seen today including other replicas within the grounds of the Tuileries Gardens, with the originals being held within the Louvre Museum, which were restored for future preservation, including this one of Mercure Monte sur Pegase.
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