Statue of Pénélope de Bourdelle

The statue Penelope by Bourdelle

The Montauban audio-guided tour has you encounter, in the open street, a work by the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, a native of the city: the statue Penelope.

A work of the assistant of Rodin

Born in Montauban, Antoine Bourdelle began alongside his father working wood, from the age of thirteen, before joining the Fine Arts of Toulouse and becoming the assistant of Rodin for fifteen years. At his death in 1929, he left a vast collection of some five hundred works, including Penelope. Inspired by Greek mythology, this sculpture represents the queen of Ithaca awaiting the return of Ulysses; the artist slipped into it a part of his personal history, mingling with the features of the face those of his first wife and with the lines of the body those of the second.

What there is to see

Patient and melancholic, the bronze lady charms with the emotion that emanates from her. She is only one of the ten works by Antoine Bourdelle scattered in the streets of Montauban, which make the city an open-air museum. To go in search of them is a fine way to discover the art of the great sculptor, outside the walls of a museum.

Practical information

The statue Penelope stands in a street of the centre of Montauban. It can be contemplated freely at all hours and on the level. Nine other works by Bourdelle are scattered in the city, to be discovered along the walk.

Who was Antoine Bourdelle?

A sculptor born in Montauban, assistant of Rodin for fifteen years, author of some five hundred works, including Penelope.

What does the statue Penelope represent?

The queen of Ithaca awaiting the return of Ulysses; Bourdelle mingled in it the features of his two wives.