For France's Marianne, big breasts aren't always better

Apparently, former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft isn't the only politician to have blushed about a large-breasted sculpture.

The mayor of the French town of Neuville-en-Ferrain, near Lille, has removed a public sculpture on the grounds that the size of its breasts have upset some members of his administration, according to reports Friday. The offending sculpture is a bust of Marianne, France's symbolic republican heroine.

The creator of the sculpture, Catherine Lamacque, told Agence France-Presse that "I made the breasts prominent to symbolize the generosity of the Republic."

"The mayor's decision is absurd," she  continued. "I only hope that he will not have it destroyed."

The mayor, Gérard Cordon, will replace the sculpture with another one, based on the model Laetitia Casta.

The replacement statue's breasts are large as well -- judging from this France 3 broadcast -- but they are not nearly as prominent as those of Lamacque's Marianne.

Artists throughout history have depicted Marianne as curvy and voluptuous. Delacroix's famous painting "Liberty Leading the People" shows her bare-breasted and holding aloft the French flag, while Daumier's "La République " depicts her proudly nursing two toddlers, Romulus and Remus.

Marianne's breasts -- whether fully exposed or partially concealed -- have been regarded as symbolic of motherhood and abundance, and communicate the bountiful and all-inclusive nature of republicanism. 

When choosing models for Marianne, the French people have tended to vote for actresses and models known for a generous bustline. Brigitte Bardot served as a Marianne model in 1970. More recently, Casta was selected to pose in 1999. The curvy Casta famously stated that "I tell people my breasts were made in Normandy, from butter and crème fraîche."

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-- David Ng

Photos: Top, the offending "Marianne" sculpture by Catherine Lamacque. Credit: L.A. Times screenshot from a France 3 broadcast. Bottom, Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People." Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Comments

[Cate]

That reminds me: Ladies age 40 and up, be sure and get to your MoMAgram.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the one and only real deal:
A symmetry Cate

[bart]

I agree....this should be thrown out just because it is such a piece of junk (I know, beauty in the eye of the beholder and I am not beholding this)....This is not a feminine work of art. Breast look like a couple of lumps, nothing like a real womans breasts to show her beauty.

[good guy]

One must stay abreast of stories such as this. Its a very titillating story. One thing is for sure; The mayor is a complete boob.

[Basil]

Someone please reassure the artist that as the mayor himself reportedly chose the statue from among others, even before it was completed, it is highly unlikely that the mayor will destroy the statue. But nevertheless the statue may not be easy to recover if the mayor is unwilling to part with it.

[Michael E. Stora, Ph.D.]

When Ashcroft was Atty. Gen. press photographers would go to great lengths to find camera angles that would picture him next to a statue's bare breasts including laying in the isles. They were covered simply because of the childish behavior of the press, not because they made the Atty. Gen. blush.

[Donald Frazell]

Marianne must be feminine,strong,fertile,natural and passionate,the mother of her country. This is an anorexic Angelina Jolie with fake lips,breasts and scrawny neck,the opposite of Mariaane in all ways. This is not a healthy woman, just like all the Hollywood and fashion walk wraiths being presented as women by our decadent culture. Marianne must be able to man the barricades,these sticks can barely walk,let alone fight.
Real men love healthy curvaceous women, literally,and figuratively.And this figure is pathetic.

[william wray]

Big breasts are cool.

[Cate]

Real men love healthy curvaceous women? What if one side is real and the other side is a prosthesis? That would be a good topic for an academic pro's thesis.

[Big Breasts]

People are going crazy!

I think that this mayor have no right to decide such things by himself. I can see nothing wrong about big breasts and I know that most people also are not against it. So, maybe he should consult people?

It is just sculpture after all! :)