Almost wordless:
“Le triomphe de 1810”
Can you guess what this is and where?
Answers below

***

Next Monday, France Book Tours presents The Conversation: The Night Napoleon Changed The World, by Jean d’Ormesson.

So to announce this tour with a picture, I share a picture I took 2 years ago.
Yes, this is Napoleon, and you can found this sculptured high relief on the lower section of the southeast pillar of the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, facing Avenue de Champs-Élysées.

It is also called Napoleon’s Triumph and was executed by Jean-Pierre Cortot.
It depicts Napoleon, crowned by Victory, in antique vestments pressing a sword against his chest.
In the background, to the right, a profiled kneeling man symbolizes a prisoner enchained at the feet of the victor.
To the left, an allegory of a city, with a crenelated crown, kneels before the conqueror whose protective hands extends over her.
Behind, the Muse of History inscribes on a tablet the memorable events of Napoléon’s reign.
Above, sounding a trumpet and bearing a standard, winged Fame soars across a palm tree, an image evoking the Egyptian expedition.

The scene illustrates the year 1810, the date of the apogee of Napoléon’s reign, his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria to assure the future of the dynasty, and conquests which expanded the Empire to the maximum.

***

More Wordless Wednesday

Almost wordless:
A statue at the corner of a street in Aix-en-Provence.

Click on the picture to access my original post.

And be sure to follow the upcoming tour of
Taking Root in Provence, by Anne-Marie Simons,
you may understand why there are so many corners in Aix
with a statue of the Virgin Mary.
NB: the answer is in her book!

***

More Wordless Wednesday

Almost wordless:

This is a German cemetery in the Champagne region.
German cemeteries there have black crosses. The American ones have white crosses.

Click on the picture to access my original post.

And if you are looking for good books to read
about World War I and II,
come this way!

***

More Wordless Wednesday