Toulouse. Jean De La Fontaine soon at the Jardin des Plantes
Started last year for the 400th birthday of the poet Jean De La Fontaine (1621-1695), the latest creation by the Toulouse sculptor Sébastien Langloÿs has been completed. This new work by the fabulist will be installed in September on the island behind the refreshment bar of the Jardin des Plantes. An ideal place that is also home to a wide variety of birds. A year ago, Sébastien Langloÿs, admirer of Jean de la Fontaine wanted to make his sculpture. “From the outset, the City of Toulouse volunteered to host this creation, financed by several patrons whose names will also be inscribed at the bottom of the work, details the sculptor. Just like those who acquired the model. I particularly enjoyed doing this work, which required six months of labor and several more for the bronze. Perhaps because I had the impression of restoring a certain justice to this rich fabulist of 239 fables which did not please King Louis XIV because of his proximity to the Superintendent of Finances, Nicolas Fouquet, an enemy of the monarch. For several years, Jean De La Fontaine was not admitted to the den of the French Academy. “. This new sculpture will be accompanied by 80 animals dear to the poet, spread over his body. “Animals are a bit like the spokesperson for this irreplaceable fabulist, rich in 239 fables, each of which reveals a message”.
“Each month, a fable will be promoted, encouraging passers-by to register and post the video on the site with an explanation of the data on the QR Code. “The idea being to create a cultural parenthesis on the content of these truly educational fables. . Several centuries after his death, Jean De La Fontaine echoes many. Poets are timeless. Him perhaps more by his fables and this animal discourse where morality and common sense always seduce the public”. This creation is added to the long list of this Toulouse artist: Claude Nougaro, square Charles de Gaulle, Pierre Baudis , Japanese garden, Father Marie Antoine and Pope John Paul II at the Saint-Sernin basilica, Carlos Gardel at the Compans-Caffarelli garden, not forgetting the Regards d’Enfants sphere at the Cercle Duranti, the bust of François Verdier which adorns the eponymous paths as well as Frédéric Mistral on the alleys of the same name.