The statue of Rouen
The Norman capital on the Seine — city of Joan of Arc, of a hundred spires and the great Gothic cathedral.
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, Rouen 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
Rouen faces north, toward Normandy. The work of Jean-Pierre Cortot, sculptor of the pediment of the Panthéon, she recalls the historic capital of the Dukes of Normandy on the Seine — the city of Joan of Arc, of Monet's cathedral and of the Gros-Horloge.
A woman for a city
Like her seven sisters, Rouen 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 north side of the square, turned toward her own region of France.
- 🏛️City representedRouen
- ⛏SculptorJean-Pierre Cortot (1787–1843)
- 📅Period1836–1840 · reign of Louis-Philippe
- 📍LocationNorth 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, Rouen, is marked in red.