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Origin and history

The cenotaph of Charles Baudelaire is a funeral monument carved by José de Charmoy, inaugurated on 26 April 1902 at the Montparnasse cemetery in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. Commanded to honour the deceased poet 25 years earlier, this project was initially entrusted to Auguste Rodin, but an artistic and moral controversy, led notably by critic Ferdinand Brunetière, delayed its realization. Finally, it was José de Charmoy, a less known sculptor, who made the work, offered to the city. The cenotaph, empty because Baudelaire lies elsewhere in the same cemetery, was described as "fantastic and dark" by Anne-Marie Minvielle.

The public subscription to finance the monument was launched in 1892 by Léon Deschamps in La Plume, but the controversy over the legitimacy of honoring Baudelaire, judged "bad" by his critics, extended the project for a decade. Despite the support of many writers, including Stéphane Mallarmé and Émile Zola, the initial scandal prevented Rodin from completing the project. The inauguration in 1902, led by Armand Dayot, took place without incident, contrary to fears. The cenotaph, classified as a historical monument in 2023 and then in 2025, now embodies the literary heritage and cultural tensions of the period.

The subscription committee brings together major figures from French and international literature, such as Leconte de Lisle (president), Paul Verlaine, Anatole France, and Joris-Karl Huysmans. This monument, located between the 26th and 27th divisions of the cemetery, near the west wall, bears witness to the posthumous recognition of Baudelaire, despite the initial resistances. His style, described as dark, reflects the poet's poetic universe, between spleen and ideal, while marking the history of public tributes to controversial artists.

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