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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Pays-de-la-Loire
  4. Vendée
  5. 85000 La Roche-sur-Yon

  6. Equestrian statue of Napoleon I

Equestrian statue of Napoleon I à La Roche-sur-Yon en Vendée

Vendée

Equestrian statue of Napoleon I

    1 Rue du Maréchal Foch
    85000 La Roche-sur-Yon
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Statue équestre de Napoléon Ier
Crédit photo : Simon Desjobert - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
mai 1804
Imperial Foundation of La Roche-sur-Yon
8 août 1808
Visit of Napoleon I
13 septembre 1852
Presidential Decree of Authorization
15 août 1853
Laying the first stone
20 août 1854
Inauguration of the statue
14 octobre 2019
Historical Monument
2020
Restoration and vandalism
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The equestrian statue of Napoleon I with its base, located Place Napoleon, as delimited in red on the plan annexed to the decree (Box AL 1189): classification by decree of 14 October 2019

Key figures

Napoléon Ier - Emperor of the French Founded La Roche-sur-Yon in 1804.
Léon Audé - Mayor of La Roche-sur-Yon (1851) Initiator of the draft statue.
Émilien de Nieuwerkerke - Sculptor and Superintendent of Fine Arts Author of the bronze statue.
Pierre Manguin - Collaborating architect Designed the pedestal and fittings.
Napoléon III - President then Emperor Authorised the statue by decree.

Origin and history

The equestrian statue of Napoleon I, located in Place Napoleon at La Roche-sur-Yon, was commissioned in 1851 by Mayor Léon Audé to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city, founded by imperial decree in 1804. Napoleon I ordered his creation in order to pacify the Vendée after the civil wars, designing a city organised around a central square. The Emperor visited the site in 1808, expressing his disappointment at the slow pace of work.

The execution of the statue was entrusted to Count Émilien de Nieuwerkerke, sculptor and superintendent of Fine Arts under Napoleon III, with the collaboration of architect Pierre Manguin. Financed by a departmental subscription (152 communes) and the Fine Arts, the bronze work was melted by lost wax. Inaugurated on August 20, 1854 in front of 20,000 people, it is 4.66 m high (9 m with its granite pedestal) and represents the Emperor designating the location of the urban foundation.

Unlike other Napoleonic effigies, this statue — almost identical to that of Lyon, except by the posture of the hand — is the only one of Napoleon's six equestrian statues in France to have never been moved. Classified as a Historical Monument in October 2019, she underwent a restoration in 2020 after an act of vandalism (red painting). Its iconography symbolizes the founding role of Napoleon I, while its base and urban environment were designed to mark the nerve centre of the city.

Napoleon Square, the heart of La Roche-sur-Yon, thus embodies the imperial will for territorial modernization. Participatory funding (57,721 francs-gold, i.e. today's €221,000) reflects local support for this memorial project. The statue, a communal property, remains a symbol of the Napoleonic heritage in Vendée, despite the regional historical tensions.

Its ranking in 2019 devotes its heritage value, while recent events (vandalism, restoration) underline its contemporary importance. Among the works of Emilien by Nieuwerkerke, this statue is distinguished by its uninterrupted territorial anchoring and its commemorative dimension, linked to the post-revolutionary urban refoundation.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum