Paris - Hôtel Biron - 7me

Plate LVII - The Hotel Biron (Rodin Museum) …

There is an elite group of art figures where a single name is identity enough. Rodin is one.

The Hôtel Biron, dating from around 1730 was built by Jacques Gabriel and Jean Aubert as a private residence, becoming in turn - the home of Marshal de Biron in 1753, a convent for the Nuns of the Society of Sacre-Coeur in 1820, a secondary school in the early 1900’s and then, scheduled for demolition, several rooms were placed at the disposal of the sculptor Rodin until his death in 1917.

His bequest of works, some 500 - in bronze and marble and left to the state, may be seen at the Rodin Museum today housed within and around the still extensive gardens of the Hôtel Biron. The once austere interiors, stripped of decorative ornamentation during the convent occupation have regained some of their original features, now restored to their original positions. A friend and collector of works by van Gogh, Renoir, and Monet these works once owned by Rodin are here too, as are some by his student and lover Camille Claudel.

But it is the work of (François Auguste René) Rodin you will come to see.

Paris - Pont d’Alexandre III - 7me

Plate L11 - The Pont Alexandre III and Petit Palais…

Built between 1896 and 1900, to compliment the Grand Palais, and named after Tsar Alexander III, this bridge spans the Seine from the Palais to Les Invalides. A marvel of engineering, the bridge itself is a six metre high steel span construction. Built by engineers Jean Résal and Amédée d’Alby, it is the decorations of this bridge, and its seventeen metre socles counterbalancing the arch’s weight, that command attention.

The many sculptures were contributed by a number of renowned sculptors including amongst others Emmanuel Frémiet. The gilded bronze statues atop the socles are of four Fames - Science, Art, Commerce and Industry.

Behind the bridge, to the centre of the picture can be seen the roof of the apse of the Petit Palais.

Originally planned as a temporary structure, the Petit Palais now houses an impressive art collection, mostly bequeathed to the city by Auguste Dutuit. Works include paintings by Delacroix, Monet, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, along with tapestries, sculptures and manuscripts.