Can you imagine a roundabout named after a maker of Santons? This is Rond-Point Magdeleine Guinde in Marseille. It’s more than just a place where streets converge. It’s a tribute to a local artist.
Rond-Point Magdeleine Guinde is a relatively new street in Marseille. You can easily find it using a map. Its coordinates are Latitude 43.3277554 and Longitude 5.4185856.
But who was Magdeleine Guinde? She was born Magdeleine Louise Jeanne Domenc in Marseille in 1886. She died there in 1962. In 1910, she married Robert Guinde who was a postman.
Madeleine Guinde was a santonnière. That means she crafted santons. Santons are small hand-painted clay figurines. They are traditionally used in Provence to create Nativity scenes.
Her grandmother was also a santonnière according to a 1943 Mouret catalog. Her maternal uncle was also a santon maker named Etienne Vial.
Madeleine Guinde is listed as a participant in the Marseille fair in 1916. She was listed as “Mme Robert Guende”. However, E. Rougier wrote in 1919 that she had been established for about ten years.
The artist Carbonel acquired a taste for bright colors from her. He also learned to mix yellow into wet green paint on the bases. The paint on her santons’ bases often turned blue due to chemical reactions. This could be from the soil or light exposure.
The artist Pesante modeled his first santons at her place when he was a child. She was a friend of his parents.
Madeleine Guinde was one of the first santonniers. She and Marius Frégier and Marie Rouvier made painted and clothed santons. Some of her clothed santon compositions are in the Château-Gombert Museum collections.
She didn’t bake her santons. Instead, she hardened them in a baker’s oven. Pesante told Charles Astro this anecdote. Astro mentioned it in the “Europe of Nativity Scenes” catalog from a 1982 Nice expo.
Madeleine Guinde’s santons were often about 10 cm tall. Some of her models can also be found at Gaubert.
Her work includes the traditional man with the lantern. This figure already existed among Lagnel’s molds in the collections of the Musée du Vieux-Marseille. Carbonel and Junoy also represented him.
One of her santons, the fishmonger, demonstrates the difficulty of model identification. The painted one was molded on an existing santon. This resulted in a loss of modeling. It also caused a decrease in size. A larger base partially compensated for this.
The colors used resemble those of the woman with the cradle. This figure is by M. Guinde in the catalog “When the Santons Enter the Museum”.
The Rond-Point Magdeleine Guinde. It is more than just a location. It’s a reminder of a woman who shaped a Provençal tradition. Her artistry continues to bring joy to many.