Thanks to the support of the State and the patronage of the Norac Group, the City of Rennes has acquired the model of the equestrian statue of Louis XIV, sculpted by Antoine Coysevox and recognized as of major heritage interest, worth 2.37 million euros.

This bronze reduction of the statue is temporarily on display at the Louvre Museum for three months, until September 5, 2022, Cour Puget, as part of the presentation of the news of the Sculpture Department, entitled «Invitation to the Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes: An equestrian statuette of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox». In September 2022, it will definitively join the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes, where are preserved since the 19th century the two reliefs of the pedestal executed by Coysevox in 1693 for the original monument.

 

The equestrian statue and its model

The original monumental work was designed at the request of the States of Brittany, between 1688 and 1689, by Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), then the most important sculptor of the end of the reign of Louis XIV.

Initially destined for Nantes, the equestrian statue of Louis XIV was finally received on July 6, 1726 by Rennes on the new Place du Palais (now Place du Parlement), a few years after the reconstruction work that followed the great fire of 1720. About 4 metres high, it rests on a 3-metre high pedestal, decorated on each side with bronze reliefs also made by Antoine Coysevox in 1693.

The statue was dismantled in 1793 and melted to make cannons, with the exception of the two bronze side reliefs that have been kept at the National Gallery since its foundation in 1801.

Preserved for more than a century in a British aristocratic collection, the bronze reduction is today the only testimony in volume of the famous monumental statue of Coysevox. It was only known until then through the engraving made by the architect Jean-François Huguet representing the inauguration of the statue.

This is the only equestrian statue of Louis XIV by Antoine Coysevox known and preserved. With a height of 94 cm, it rests on a 120 cm pedestal dating from the 19th century.

An exceptional acquisition transaction

In October 2019, the Advisory Commission on National Treasures of the Ministry of Culture gave a favourable opinion on the recognition of sculpture as a "work of major heritage interest". This qualification testifies to the exceptional artistic value of the statue and, in particular, allows territorial museums in France to acquire cultural property, by mobilizing the fiscal framework of Article 238 bis 0A of the General Tax Code.

This article provides that the financing by a company of the acquisition of a cultural property recognized as “of major heritage interest” for the benefit of a public collection entitles it toA reduction in its corporate tax equal to 90% of the amount of the payment made, up to a limit of 50% of the tax due. This tax expenditure represents an important State support for the enrichment of territorial collections, without which this acquisition would not have been possible.

By participating in this operation as a sponsor, the Norac Group wishes to demonstrate its lasting commitment to the cultural life of Rennes and Brittany.

The Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes thus becomes, after those of Lyon, Montpellier and the Grenoble Museum, one of the museums of France in the region to benefit from this device set up by the State. It incorporates in its collections the work of a major artist for the history of art and exceptional by its rarity, artistic quality and dimensions.