The statue of Nantes
The great Loire port where France opens to the ocean — an anchor at her feet, city of the Dukes of Brittany.
Among the eight monumental statues that crown the corners of Place de la Concorde, each representing a great French city as a seated woman wearing a mural crown, Nantes was carved between 1836 and 1840 for the redesign of the square under King Louis-Philippe, led by the architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorff.
History & sculptor
Nantes looks west, an anchor resting at her feet — the emblem of the great Loire port where the river meets the ocean. She was carved by Louis-Denis Caillouette, who also sculpted the statue of Bordeaux, her companion of the south-western seaboard.
A woman for a city
Like her seven sisters, Nantes is a woman: the allegory of the city as a protective, sovereign figure. The mural crown she wears — a diadem shaped like city walls and towers — has symbolised a fortified city since Antiquity. She was placed on the west side of the square, turned toward her own region of France.
- 🏛️City representedNantes
- ⛏SculptorLouis-Denis Caillouette (1790–1868)
- 📅Period1836–1840 · reign of Louis-Philippe
- 📍LocationWest side of Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris
- 👑AttributeMural crown — emblem of a fortified city
- 🌐Part of
The eight statues on Place de la Concorde
The map is centred on the Luxor Obelisk so you can take in all eight city statues at once — the one you are viewing, Nantes, is marked in red.