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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The statue of Neptune in Mortagne-au-Perche was commissioned by the State in 1866 by the sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet. The work, entitled La Métamorphose de Neptune, transformed into a horse to seduce Ceres, was first made of plaster and exhibited at the Salon of 1868. Bronze was commissioned in 1872 and installed on the Mortagne-au-Perche racetrack at its inauguration in 1878. The statue was then moved to the gardens of the Town Hall, where it still stands today, Place du Général-de-Gaulle.

The work illustrates a mythological episode where Neptune, god of the seas, transforms into a horse to seduce Ceres, goddess of harvests. Cupid, depicted riding the animal, holds in his right hand the trident of Neptune and presents, in his left hand, a statuette of Ceres carrying a sickle. This bronze, marked by the anatomical realism typical of Frémiet, escaped the melting under the Vichy regime and was classified as a historical monument in 2006, with its base.

Emmanuel Frémiet, a sculptor renowned for his animal works and his mythological compositions, has here combined a precise study of equine musculature with a symbolic narration. Mortagne-au-Perche's choice as a place of exhibition is part of a desire to value the local public space, first on the racetrack, then in a more central setting. The designation of historic monuments in 2006 confirms its heritage importance, both for its artistic interest and for its anchoring in urban history.

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