Nice [France]: Brand New Statue of Joan of Arc Must Go

[Stone]

Nice [France]: Brand New Statue of Joan of Arc Must Go

gloria.tv | January 19, 2025

A brand new and very beautiful statue of Saint Joan of Arc was inaugurated on 23 October by the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi.

The monumental work in bronze, gilded with fine gold, weighs 9 tonnes, is 4.50 metres high and cost 170,000 euros.

But on Wednesday, the administrative court of Nice, at the instigation of the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hugues Moutouh, ordered the city to remove the statue.

The pretext for the removal: The court ruled that the contract had been awarded without advertising or competition.

The Nice city council replied that the specificity of a work of art is that it is unique, and that if you want to decorate a wall with a Piéta by Botticelli, you don't buy a Piéta by Enguerrand Quarton.

An appeal against the ruling has no suspensive effect and the statue must be removed immediately.

The same court, which heard the case under an expedited procedure, took the opposite view in a ruling on 23 February.

The masterpiece, which depicts Joan of Arc on horseback brandishing a sword, had been erected in the municipal garden above a new underground car park near the church of Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc in the centre of Nice.

Mayor Estrosi has accused the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hugues Moutouh, of 'attacking the figure of Joan of Arc'.

At a time when France is struggling to find its bearings in a period of unprecedented instability, its representative is attacking the figure of Joan of Arc, which we wanted to embody by erecting a bronze statue in front of the church dedicated to the heroine,' he said.

Gaël Nofri, chairman of the Parcs d'Azur public service, commented on Twitter: "Making a statue of Joan of Arc out of bronze probably poses more problems than making a bust of Che Guevara out of used toilet paper."

The Missor studio, which created the masterpiece, was set up in response to woke extremism and its iconoclasm. Some sectarian circles don't like Joan of Arc because she doesn't stand for decadence.

Meanwhile, Christian Estrosi has launched a fund-raising campaign to save the statue of Joan of Arc. It will be placed in front of the church of Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc.