Charlemagne et ses Leudes
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.jpg) View of the statue from the Notre-Dame plaza | |
 Interactive map of Charlemagne et ses Leudes | |
| Location | Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 48°51′11″N 2°20′54″E / 48.8531°N 2.348215°E |
| Designer | Louis and Charles Rochet |
| Type | Equestrian statue |
| Completion date | 1878 |
Charlemagne et ses Leudes, generally translated as Charlemagne and His Guards or Charlemagne and His Paladins, is a monumental bronze statue situated on the plaza (parvis) in front of Notre-Dame, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. A joint work by the brothers Louis Rochet (1813-1878) and Charles Rochet (1815-1900), it was cast at the art foundry Fonderie Thiébaut Frères.[1]
Leude is a word associated with the Merovingian era, referring to a Frankish aristocrat who has pledged fidelity to the monarch and belongs to his retinue. It is synonymous of antrustion.[2]
History
The Rochet brothers first conceived the project of a monument to Charlemagne in 1853. They initially intended it for Aachen.[3] They presented a plaster version at the Universal Exposition of 1867.
The completed bronze group was exhibited at the Universal Exposition of 1878 shortly after the death of Louis Rochet. By that time, however, the political climate was much less favorable to the celebration of Charlemagne given the latter's monarchical and German associations. Charles Rochet offered to cover the cost of the 15-ton group's erection in order to facilitate its location on a suitable Parisian site. On Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's recommendation and after some controversy, the Paris municipal council accepted the offer in January 1879 and endorsed the Parvis Notre-Dame as a "provisional" location.[4] The group was erected there in 1882, on a wooden pedestal designed by Viollet-le-Duc.[1][5]
Eventually the City of Paris acquired the ownership of the statue in 1895 and reimbursed the founders. In 1908 the current pedestal was built in stone.[1] Unlike many bronze statues in Paris and elsewhere, the monument was spared by the German occupiers during World War II because of Charlemagne's salience in their own nationalistic ideology.[4] In 1973, its replacement by the Pillar of the Boatmen and relocation to Metz were debated, but not implemented.[4]
