Allegory of Literature in the guise of George Sand

George Sand had a tumultuous relationship with this sculptor, Prix de Rome winner and recognized artist of his time, who became her son-in-law on May 15, 1847.

A talented sculptor and excellent practitioner, Auguste Clésinger met with success at the 1847 Salon with his "Femme piquée par un serpent" ("Woman Stung by a Snake"). Considered by many as brutal, vivacious and profligate, he was not the son-in-law of his dreams, and his marriage to Solange caused George Sand great pain.

In the privacy of the Nohant dining room, traces of a famous family quarrel remain, sealing the enduring rift between George Sand and her daughter. Clésinger seeks to strike Maurice. The priest, friends and servants try to separate them and take the pistol away from Maurice. George Sand even claims, "Solange fanning the flames with ferocious coldness, and having brought about these deplorable fury by gossip, lies, unimaginable blackness."

The day after George Sand's death (June 8, 1876), a new committee studied the advisability of erecting a statue in her memory, and concluded that such a project would be pointless.

Girardin then agreed to sell the work in his possession to the Direction des Beaux-Arts, for the Comédie-Française. And so, on the evening of June 4, 1877, when the play Le marquis de Villemer entered the repertory, it was installed in the foyer of the Théâtre français.

George Sand, portrayed Roman-style in the guise of literature, replaced the actress Rachel, whose statue, also by Clésinger, had just been transferred to the Odéon.

In 1867, Félix Nadar approached the director of the Théâtre français, Édouard Thierry, to obtain permission to photograph the collection of busts of authors and actors. When, ten years later, he finally took some photos, Nadar photographed the newly installed large statue of George Sand.

The features of the woman of letters captured by Nadar in 1877 became part of our collective memory, consecrating the triumph of photography.

The work remained there for almost a century, for in 1974, major works at the Comédie-Française led to the transfer of the George Sand sculpture to the reserves of the Musée National du Château de Compiègne, where it slumbered for almost thirty years before being transferred to George Sand's home in 2004.

George Sand presents herself to visitors as a veritable allegory of literature and theater.

You'll be able to appreciate the power of this interpretation, which may be a little academic, but has undeniable qualities. Admire the beauty and poetry of this performance!