Was it a playful giant who lost his thumb, right here in Marseille? Of course not. This is Le Pouce de César, a giant bronze thumb by César Baldaccini. Le Pouce de César is a monumental sculpture that dominates the Avenue de Hambourg roundabout. César, born in Marseille in 1921, studied at the city’s Academy of Arts before moving to Paris. He began his artistic journey welding scrap metal. However, a visit to a scrap yard changed everything. He saw a hydraulic crushing machine, which inspired his famous “Compressions.” He crushed cars, creating intriguing sculptures. Le Pouce de César, however, is from a different series. It’s a massive enlargement of the artist’s own thumb. The original, created in 1965, was just 40 cm tall. Now, Le Pouce de César in Marseille is considerably larger. It commands attention with its sheer size. The polished, varnished bronze gleams in the sun. This sculpture isn’t just big. It’s also a symbol, a playful nod to manual labor. It’s a reminder of César’s beginnings, his roots in a working-class family. Imagine the artist, pressing his thumb into clay as a child, never dreaming it would one day reach for the sky, immortalized in bronze. Le Pouce de César stands as a testament to the artist’s humor, his radical approach to art, and his connection to his birthplace, Marseille.
Rue Callelongue
A hidden paradise at the end of the world. That’s Callelongue. Callelongue isn’t just a street it’s a journey. A