Ile de France

myminifactory

This sculpture of Ile-de-France was cast in bronze by Alexis Rudier and melted down by Georges Rudier, in the garden of the Tuileries, Paris. Based on the original torso without arms or head of Girl Walking in Water created by Maillol between 1910 and 1921. Inscription and signature on base: A. Maillol The Tuileries Garden is a public space located between the Louvre Museum and Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was eventually opened to the public in 1667 and became a public park after the French Revolution. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the place where Parisians celebrated, met, strolled, and relaxed. Until the 1960s, almost all sculptures in the garden dated back to the 18th or 19th century. In 1964-65, Andre Malraux, the Minister of Culture for President Charles de Gaulle, removed the 19th-century statues surrounding Place du Carrousel and replaced them with contemporary sculptures by Aristide Maillol. Also known as Place du Carrousel, this part of the garden used to be enclosed by the two wings of the Louvre and Tuileries Palace. In the 18th century, it was used as a parade ground for cavalry and other festivities. The central feature is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, built to celebrate Napoleon's victories, with bas-relief sculptures of his battles by Jean Joseph Espercieux. The garden was redesigned in 1995 to showcase a collection of twenty-one statues by Aristide Maillol, which had been placed in Tuileries in 1964.