Paris - Sacré Coeur - 18e

Plate XCIV – Basilica Sacre Couer de Montmartre II …

As with the other two major Parisian landmarks mentioned yesterday (the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe of course) the views of Paris from the top of the central dome of the Basilica are magnificent. Access (tickets needed) is only via the long interior staircase, so if you find yourself easily exhausted perhaps you should save some energy by arriving at the footsteps of the church at the crest of the butte, by using the funicular carriages that ascend alongside the terraced stairs provided for the more energetic or younger traveller.

Formally dedicated to the lives lost during the Franco-Prussian War, the connection to the communards whose insurrectional movement started in Montmartre has not been forgotten by many. Sacré Coeur is a Roman Catholic church devoted to the Sacred Heart of Christ. Displayed in a monstrance above the high altar is an artefact known as the Blessed Sacrament, ensuring that Sacre Coeur has remained an important centre of Catholicism since 1885. The Christ in Majesty mosaic inside the apse must also not be missed.

The south facing portico is flanked by bronze equestrian statues of St Louis (King Louis IX) (pictured) and Joan of Arc. Chief architect Abadie had died in 1884 and ongoing design work was continued by five later successors. Funded entirely by private donations the basilica is estimated to have cost some several million French francs. I found it hard to leave this site and, while living in the same century the basilica’s construction, could not help wondering if we’ll ever see such magnificence created by man in devotion to his God again. It just does not seem likely.

Paris - Place des Pyramides - 1er

Plate XVIII - Human Statue - Place des Pyramides

I’m not sure that calling what I more usually refer to as human statues ‘Mimes’ is the correct use of the word. It somehow does an injustice to an art form that has existed over centuries, dating back to ancient Greek theatre when a single masked dancer was referred to as a pantomimus - and who incidentally was not always silent.

It was however a Parisian, Jean-Gaspard ‘Baptiste’ Deburau, who in the early nineteenth century popularised the silent white-faced figure that the world has come to know as ‘the Mime’. It is undoubtedly a performance art that the French have made their own, with legendary Mimes following Deburau including Jacques Copeau, Etienne Decroux, Jacques Lecoq, Jacques Tati, Jean-Louis Barrault and of course the doyen of them all, Marcel Marceau.

If we allow some latitude by accepting that the Mime portrays thoughts, emotions and feelings by gesture and facial expression, perhaps I am being harsh in not allowing that these human statues follow that rule by allowing movement only on receiving a public funds donation. So mimes we’ll let them be, (but we’ll keep the m in lower case lettering!!)

I am still fascinated by the mimes of Europe. I cannot help thinking there must be an easier way to make a living than the hours of doing something by doing nothing that these dedicated souls endure. This particular example was not the best I have seen, but I had to admire her courage in setting up shop in the Place des Pyramides. It takes confidence (or foolishness) to set yourself up to do battle for attention with a gilded Joan of Arc!!!

Paris - Joan of Arc - 1er

Plate XVII - Joan of Arc - Place des Pyramides ...

Few legends of French history are as inspiring as Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. For six centuries Joan has been the subject of plays and of operas (even, thanks to OMD, of popular music) of films and of works of art. The Emmanuel Frémiet gilded equestrian statue of the maid commands attention in the centre of the Place des Pyramides off the Rue de Rivoli. This location is close to the Saint-Honoré Gate where Joan was wounded during her attack on the English in September 1429.

I remember as a young boy seeing the, then already old, 1940’s monochrome film of Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman. Since then Bergman had always been Joan to me. Sadly, as intensely as I examined Frémiet’s rendition of the maid for traces of Miss Bergman, I could see none. It was quite disappointing.

This work is the second ‘revision’ by the sculptor Frémiet and having been commissioned by Napoleon III it dates from 1899. The earlier, and original casting from 1874 was sent by Frémiet himself to Philadelphia in the USA where it may now been seen in Fairmount Park. A replica of this, the later Paris statue, was cast in 1907 and sent to Victoria in Australia, with yet another being cast in 1927 again destined for the USA, this time in Portland Oregon. More 'recently' a third casting was given by the people of France to the US city of New Orleans in 1972, making this perhaps the most recognisable image of Joan in the world today.

No more Ingrid Bergman then?