Orlando Furioso in The Louvre, Lens

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Roland was the bravest and most loyal of the 12 legendary knights who served Charlemagne, king of the Franks. Charlemagne, a historical figure, had many tales about his life and his knights told during the Middle Ages. It's said that Roland stood 8 feet tall and carried a magical sword called Durindana (or Durendal) once owned by the Trojan hero Hector. According to medieval stories, Roland was the son of Charlemagne's sister who lived as a poor peasant in Italy before being welcomed to the king's court after his true identity was revealed. Although a powerful warrior, Roland's pursuit of honor and fame ultimately led to his downfall. Ganelon, jealous of Roland, plotted with the enemy leader instead of negotiating a peace treaty. The Muslims waited for Roland at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees Mountains and ambushed him. The paladins told Roland to blow his ivory horn to summon reinforcements from Charlemagne, but he refused until the battle was almost lost. When Charlemagne's troops arrived, Roland and many of the bravest paladins were already dead. At the end of the story, Charlemagne had Ganelon killed for his treachery. The expressive power of Roland, whose fury was hampered, impressed the public in 1831. Betrayed by his love for Princess Angelica, the paladin expresses his despair with unprecedented violence. Duseigneur, a young sculptor at the time, caused a sensation at the 1831 Salon by presenting the plaster model of Roland furious. The violence of the expression immediately made it a manifesto of romantic sculpture. Owned by the wrath of unrequited love and struggling to free himself from his bonds, Roland's muscles bulge, his limbs twist, and hands grip the ground. The face is contorted in pain, eyes rolled back in dementia. Théophile Gautier dedicated an ode to the sculptor, where he sang: "Roland the paladin, who foams at the mouth, under a frowning sky with rolling, fishy eyes...". The work reveals all the ambiguities of romantic sculpture. Duseigneur was inspired by Orlando Furioso (1516-1532) by Ariosto, which recounts the adventures of Charlemagne's paladins. Roland, the bravest of them learns that Angelique, the beautiful princess of Cathay he is madly in love with, loves another. Mad with grief, he throws his armor, tears his clothes, and gives way to fury, uprooting trees with bare hands. Knights friends manage to bind him to end his ravages and try to bring him to reason. The subject seems to share the taste of the Romantic generation for the Middle Ages. Duseigneur, who belonged to the inner circle of Victor Hugo, had also adopted the medieval name Jehan. Yet the artist doesn't describe a knight in armor with all its picturesque paraphernalia. He chose the only passage where the hero is stripped, allowing him to justify a virtuoso demonstration of academic nude, consistent with the classical tradition. The Conservative critic Gustave Planche appreciated "some good muscle portions". This seminal work of romanticism was not yet transcribed into bronze 36 years later after the artist's death. His son Maurice melted it down and sold it cheaply to the state. It was presented a few years in the garden of Luxembourg before entering the Louvre in 1900. This object is part of "Scan The World", a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks, and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open-source community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.