The pretender to the throne of France qualifies the artistic project of the trip to Nantes as “falsely artistic but really revolutionary”.
The ephemeral disappearance of the statue of Louis XVI in Nantes irritates one of his descendants. In a scathing Facebook message, Prince Louis de Bourbon, one of the two contenders for the throne of France, strongly criticized this artistic project. As part of the trip to Nantes whose summer edition is entitled “The strange summer”, the sculpture will indeed be framed by a structure in mirrors dissipating the deceased sovereign.
“This device invites us to re -examine the presence of monarchical symbols in public space”explains the press kit devoted to the event scheduled from June 28 to August 31. The work is signed Iván Argote, a Colombian artist who “Questioning certain dominant historical stories and tries to offer alternative versions”specifies the press release, adding that his work is often “Combined with humor and poetry”.
Yesterday was Saint Louis that we wanted to unclog, today Louis XVI, tomorrow will be the tour of Henri IV?
-Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou
This contemporary initiative absolutely does not make Louis XX laugh. “I will not let anyone trample the inheritance of our kings without protesting. They will not erase 1000 years of royal history with impunity ”reacted firmly Friday morning the Duke of Anjou, on his Facebook page. The former king of France is one of his grand-oncles. “In more ways than one, Louis XVI was distinguished by his kindness and his magnanimity towards the French. And only two statues (in public space, editor’s note) still honor his memory in France. I therefore hear that they are respected and not that they are the object of falsely artistic but really revolutionary lubies ”he defends, referring to that of Loroux-Bottereau. A third throne at the castle of Caradeuc (Ille-et-Vilaine) and one last in the old abbey of the village of Sorèze (Tarn). That of Nantes was inaugurated in its final version in 1823.
Whoever does not hesitate to speak publicly, as in 2018, where he had supported the “yellow vests”, does not exclude coming to Nantes if his trips allow him. “It is paradoxical that the memory of the monarch which has done the most for the abolition of slavery is thus flouted in the city most involved in the milking and which opposed the most resistance to its abolition”adds the head of the house of Bourbon, contacted by Le Figaro.
More generally, he regrets the lack of consideration for the past. “I do not know if a single period of our common history finds thanks to the eyes of contemporary censors. All those who preceded us are almost automatically marked with the seal of infamy and collective contempt. We no longer know how to recognize the respect due to those who have transmitted a secular heritage of which we are only the smugglers ”exhibits the descendant of the guillotined king. While remaining lucid. “Does this mean that everything that belongs to history is necessarily good?” No, obviously not. Not everything is worth. But I am not sure that wanting to erase the memory of Louis XVI, a paternal political figure and magnanimous for the French of his time, that is a very good signal. Yesterday it was Saint Louis that we wanted to unclog, today Louis XVI, tomorrow will be the tour of Henri IV? ”he concludes. Recently, the Dijon administrative court considered that the statue of Louis IX de Bourbon-Lancy (Saône-et-Loire), did not offer secularism.
