#TBT# The pictures for Throwback Thursday this week document the arrival, installation and dedication of one of the major pieces of public art in Louisville, the statue of the city’s namesake, King Louis XVI of France. It is a French work of art, sculpted by the artist Achille-Joseph Valois in 1829. It is carved from carrara marble and weighs nine tons. In a way, it is a product of the French Revolution. It was unveiled in the city of Montpellier, France. This was the region of France where the person who commissioned the statue lived - Marie Therese Charlotte, Duchess of Angouleme, the only child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to survive the Reign of Terror. She commissioned the statue in honor of her father. It was on display only for a short time however, being removed from public view in 1830 after another political upheaval in France, which saw the Duchess flee her country once again. She died in 1851 and is buried in what is now Slovenia, a land ruled then by her Austrian Hapsburg relatives. It 1966 the city of Montpellier donated the statue to its new sister-city in the US, Louisville, Kentucky. It was shipped by sea and rail to Louisville, installed on the Jefferson County Courthouse [now Metro Hall] lawn, and was dedicated on July 17, 1967, at a ceremony attended by over three hundred people.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:18:19 +0000
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