More missing busts

Well the total number of solen artwork from Pere Lachaise cemetery has reached at least nine that we know of. One of them, Louis Thomas in div. 73/74 was not only stolen, but whoever took it apparently must have used a sledge hammer since there is a large chunk missing off the back of the pedestal as well. (photos, Louis Thomas before and after.)




There is now an effort underway here in Paris to begin putting together a database of funerary artwork in the Parisian cemeteries. There are some very serious folks here determined to catalogue what they can before it is too late. It is presently not known exactly how many pieces of art are in fact in the cemeteries, but from what I can tell it must run into the hundreds. . . .

And we are not talking about factory-produced items out of a catalogue, but one-of-a-kind sculptures, designed, and executed by some of the great names in the city: Millet, Vigneron, Cartellier, Etex, Barrias, Bartholomé, David d'Anger, Dubois, Bartholdi, Clesinger.