Beneath the hooves of a bronze horse, stories echo. This is the statue of Henri IV. Right here on Pont Neuf, the statue stands as a testament to a king, his legacy, and the city’s turbulent past.
The Henri IV statue you see today isn’t the first. It’s actually the third equestrian statue to stand on this very spot. The original statue was commissioned by Marie de Medici, Henri IV’s queen. She wanted to honor her husband. Sadly, Henri IV was assassinated in 1610, before its completion.
Jean Bologne and Pietro Tacca, Florentine artists, created the first Henri IV statue. Getting it here was an adventure. The ship carrying the statue sank off Savona. It spent a month underwater before being rescued. Finally, in 1614, Louis XIII, Henri IV’s heir, inaugurated the statue.
That first statue of Henri IV met its end during the French Revolution. On August 12, 1792, revolutionaries tore it down. The bronze was melted and used to make cannons. Only fragments remained. Some pieces are now in the Louvre Museum.
In 1814, as Louis XVIII returned to power, a temporary statue stood here. It was made from a plaster cast. However, it was short-lived.
The Henri IV statue we see now was inaugurated on August 25, 1818. Sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot created it. He drew inspiration from surviving fragments of the original and perhaps a head now in a private collection. Ironically, the bronze came from melted-down statues of Napoleon.
Look closely at the Henri IV statue. The king is in armor, crowned with laurel. He holds a scepter with fleur-de-lis. Henri IV gazes toward Quai des Orfèvres. The horse looks at Quai de l’Horloge.
The pedestal tells its own story. Latin inscriptions on the front commemorate the statue’s restoration after the revolution. It speaks of citizens uniting to replace the statue and restore the inscription that was destroyed. The back of the pedestal honors Louis XIII. It recognizes his role in completing the initial project.
Here’s a quirky detail. During the 1818 re-erection, workers placed items inside the statue. Parchment documents, medals, and books about Henri IV were sealed within. These relics are now kept in the Iron Cabinet at the National Archives. Some believe a Bonapartist hid anti-royalist pamphlets inside as well.
Restoration work in the 2000s offered a chance to peek inside the Henri IV statue. Workers used an endoscopic camera. They found the boxes in the horse’s belly. They also discovered unlisted items in the king’s bottom and a cylinder with the name Mesnet in the king’s head.
One more fascinating tidbit. Some believe the first photograph of a human being was taken near this spot. A daguerreotype of the Pont-Neuf shows figures lying near the Henri IV statue.
So, as you stand before the statue of Henri IV, remember its journey. Think of the artists, the revolutionaries, and the secrets hidden within. It’s more than a statue. It’s a piece of Parisian history, cast in bronze and set in stone.