[Call for papers] 13th symposium for young researchers in sculpture

The Public of the Monument (1789-2026). Collective Celebration in Question

Headed by Thierry Laugée, Professor of Contemporary Art History, Nantes Université, CReAAH-LARA

"This is how the Republic knew how to impress the masses, by involving them in these great national performances."
Pierre-Jean David d’Angers, “Fêtes nationales”, Dictionnaire politique. Encyclopédie du langage et de la science politiques, Paris, Pagnerre, 1842, pp. 400–401.

Through these words, published by Pagnerre in 1842 in the Dictionnaire politique, Pierre-Jean David d’Angers elevated the revolutionary festivals of Year II of the Republic to the status of exemplary models, considering them to be authentically popular in nature. The Festival of the Supreme Being in particular—staging the participation of the people in the celebration of temporary statues—aroused an enthusiasm conducive to moral elevation and reminded the sculptor of the emancipatory function of the sculpted monument. David’s attentiveness to the collective dimension of the monument must be situated within the broader history of public statuary. For shared celebration—whether marking an inauguration or assuming a more symbolic form—constitutes one of the necessary conditions for a monument to be genuinely perceived as public, that is, as belonging to those who encounter it in their daily lives. Whether an association commemorates the anniversary of a great man before his statue, a spontaneous gathering assembles around an effigy in defense of a political cause, or supporters climb the statue of the Republic to celebrate a club’s victory, such gestures represent as many ways of celebrating a monument—or of celebrating with it.

Incidentally, the popular gatherings of 1899 around the sculpted monument Le Triomphe de la République by Jules Dalou are said to have inspired him with the idea of his Monument aux ouvriers, attesting to the political and artistic emulation generated by the public appropriation of the monument.

Public statuary, by inscribing itself within urban space, exists in daily proximity to pedestrians. Although the statue is intended to convey a message to them, to shape their memory, or to signal the values upheld by the locality, the role of the passerby cannot be confined to passive reception. Beyond potential financial participation through taxation or public subscription, it is the passerby who ultimately accepts—or rejects—the monument and integrates it into local social life.

To recount the history of a public monument entails reconstructing, through archival sources, the genealogy of debates and the administrative and financial decisions that led to its erection, followed by an examination of the artist’s successive projects culminating in its execution in its definitive material, and possibly its inauguration. Yet one of the fundamental stakes of public statuary lies in its inscription within the future of a locality. Every episode occurring on or around the monument, up to its potential dismantling, forms part of the long-term history of the public monument. This urban history generally escapes the artist’s control; it is composed of ceremonies and festivities that focus on the statue or incorporate it into a spatial framework defined either by deliberate choice or by necessity.

This symposium therefore seeks to examine the modalities and paradoxes of celebrating statuary within the city, as well as the multiple actors involved in these collective forms of celebration. It aims to observe the statue’s “fellow citizens,” those for whom it is intended, in order to better understand their role, their practices, and the attachment they may gradually develop toward an effigy over time.

One of the proposed research perspectives concerns the study of the ways public monuments are inaugurated. As Bertrand Tillier notes, “these collective uses of the monument at the moment of its inauguration, as it enters the public sphere, generate a shared emotional experience” (La Disgrâce des statues, 2022). This emotion may surface in speeches, poems, concerts, or songs—forms whose study has, until now, remained largely peripheral. Yet a rich and varied corpus of artistic and literary works, whether published or unpublished, accompanies these ceremonies. Yet there exists a rich body of artistic and literary productions, published or unpublished, that mark the rhythm of the ceremonial proceedings and contribute to the staging of the collective.

The ways in which a monument is celebrated prove to be remarkably varied, and in some cases, they overlap significantly with religious ceremonial practices, particularly through processional forms. These points of permeability between civic and sacred spaces, far from being incidental, invite a deeper examination of the circulation of practices, symbols, and ritual registers through which individuals express attachment to—or acknowledgment of—a secular figure.

Beyond the moment of inauguration alone, it becomes clear that public statuary functions as a form of spectacle. Another research perspective during this study day will therefore be to examine the forms and uses of this spectacularization, understood as a mode of collective engagement within public space. Particular attention may be given to the most ephemeral expressions of statuary, a transitory character that appears at first glance to contradict the ideal of permanence. From the First Republic to the most recent Olympic Games, the display of temporary statues—in plaster, cardboard, paper, fabric, or resin—during civic celebrations attests to the structuring role of statuary in shaping urban discourse. Contributions addressing the use of pyrotechnics, illumination, or sound design in relation to monuments are especially encouraged, since these devices play a significant part in the festive appropriation of public monuments.

This study day is explicitly interdisciplinary in scope and is intended for scholars across all fields of the humanities and social sciences, with the aim of fostering dialogue, methodological exchange, and the enrichment of historical knowledge concerning sculpted monuments. Particular attention will be given to contributions that offer a fresh perspective on groups of monuments, civic celebrations, or related practices.

Submissions

Proposals for papers may be submitted in French or English. They must include a title, an abstract (between 1,500 and 2,000 characters) and a brief biographical note (between 500 and 1,000 characters). They should be sent before May 31, 2026 to colloques@musee-rodin.fr. 

Research committee

• Amélie Simier, Director of Musée Rodin
• Thierry Laugée, Professor of Contemporary Art History, Nantes Université, CReAAH-LARA
• Emilia Philippot, Senior Curator, Head of Curatorial Affairs, Musée Rodin
• Véronique Mattiussi, Head of the Research department, Musée Rodin
• Franck Joubin, Researcher, Conference Coordinator, Musée Rodin

In partnership with Nantes Université, the Laboratoire de recherche ARchéologie et Architectures and the Centre de recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire. 

Visual : Eugène Druet, Le Monument des Bourgeois de Calais sur un échafaudage, 1913, épreuve gélatino-argentique, 39,9 x 30 cm, Paris, musée Rodin, donation Rodin en 1916, Ph.00938.