La Marseillaise

Matthieu LARNOUHET and Kenza EL HASSANI write:

The statue entitled La Marseillaise was made in 1904 by Charles Ernest Dagonet. It’s a tribute to the people who died during the French Revolution. This statue is an allegory of the Republican spirit.

Dagonet was born on the 4th of May 1856 in Châlons-en-Champagne and he died on the 3^rd of July 1926 aged 70.

It’s a bronze statue of a barefoot girl wearing a long dress and a Hussar's vest, carrying a drum on her back and holding up high her drumsticks and an olive branch (symbol of peace) or laurel branch (symbol of victory) in her right hand. The statue is on a stone pedestal and there is an inscription on this pedestal:

Valmy, Jemmapes, Hondschoote, Wattignies, Fleurus

LA MARSEILLAISE

AUX SOLDATS DE L’AN II

Inauguré par M. Vallé, ministre

le 15 août 1904

Ils furent les soldats de la Loi et moururent avec la République (Michelet)

Socle offert par la Société des Musées de Riom

Tout citoyen doit être soldat

tout soldat citoyen (Assemblée Nationale 1789)

Don de l'Etat

E. Clémentel député maire de Riom

1904

Dagonet statuaire

This inscription says that the statue was erected in 1904 by Ernest Dagonet. It also says that the French soldiers who died during the French revolution died for the Republic and that all people can be like soldiers.

The statue is situated in the Virlogeux public gardens near Riom train station.

Map of the Virlogeux gardens in Riom

In 1903, Riom received a statue called Le Narcisse de Caldela, but its nudity scandalized people so the municipality decided to put it in the museum garden. Riom obtained a new statue from the State to decorate Virlogeux square. Charles Ernest Dagonet sculpted a bronze reproduction of “La Marseillaise. The statue was inaugurated on the 15^th of August 1904.

The statue speaks...

"Good day to you, citizens! I’m “La Marseillaise”. I’m an allegorical figure of the Republic but I look like a real person too; some people think I’m a little boy, but I’m actually a tough-looking young woman! Don't forget, I'm called "La Marseillaise"!

I was made in 1904 by Ernest Dagonet, who was rather a good sculptor, don’t you think? He’s not very well known today though...

So, I’m a little bit old, but I actually celebrate the “sans-culottes” soldiers who fought to set up the first French Republic much earlier in 1793-94 (in year 2 of the Republican calendar). Look at the list of terrible battles on the plinth below my bare feet!

I have been standing in Virlogeux square since 1926. I’m a little hidden by trees, but I am here to remind the people that they are living today in a society free from royal tyrants because of our courage!

Notice my lovely Hussar’s jacket, my long flowing dress, my patriotic bonnet, and my drum. I use it to make a lot of noise and to give courage to our soldiers when we sing patriotic songs (do you know the one called “La Marseillaise”?  It has become the national anthem). I am holding up my drumsticks and also a laurel branch to symbolize the triumph of our Republic!

Vive la République, vive la France!"