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Origin and history

The equestrian statue of Vercingetorix, installed in 1903 on Jaude Square in Clermont-Ferrand, is a bronze work by Auguste Bartholdi. Originally commissioned for the Gergau plateau, it was reduced in size and moved to the city. The monument represents Vercingetorix, king of the Arvernes, triumphing after the siege of Gergau, his horse jumping over a terrified Roman soldier. Bartholdi inspired collections of the National Antiquities Museum for historical details, mixing anachronisms (Bronze Age, Gallo-Roman era) and symbolic elements such as winged helmet.

The project was born under the Second Empire, but the final plaster was accepted only in 1899. Inaugurated on 12 October 1903 by Mayor Louis Renon, the statue embodies the Gallic ideal promoted by the Third Republic. Ranked a historical monument in 1994, it talks with the monument to General Desaix, located at the other end of the square. Preparatory models are kept at the Bartholdi (Colmar) and Roger-Quilliot (Clermont-Ferrand) museums, while a trophy derived from the statue (1906) is also displayed there.

Bartholdi designed a dynamic movement, between jump and gallop, without any hoof touching the ground, evoking contained violence. The face of Vercingetorix, inspired by young Napoleon III, expresses a post-defect resignation. The work reflects the collective representations of the early twentieth century, where Gauls become heroic nationalist figures. The pedestal, made of Volvic stone, bears inscriptions that are now partially erased, while the colonnade of Gergau (1900), designed by Jean Teillard, completes this memorial project.

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