I am most pleased to post an excerpt from Rosemary Flannery’s upcoming book, Guide to the Angels of Paris: Looking up in the World’s Most Beautiful City.
Soaring over three stories at 57 rue de Turbigo, the smiling, colossal stone angel seems to stand guard over the human comedy unfolding at its feet. Wings unfurled with a span rivaling that of the Louvre’s Winged Victory, its feathers brush against the fourth floor apartments’ windows of this building designed by architect Eugene Demangeat in 1860.
Demangeat was a key player in the building boom of Paris, orchestrated by Baron Haussmann under the aegis of Napoleon III. The goal was to aerate, beautify and unify the capital city, until then a medieval maze of dark, insalubrious, winding streets. Extended by decree in 1858 from the rue St Martin, the rue de Turbigo cuts a diagonal axis across the city, changing names along the way to the boulevard Magenta in an efficient route to the pride of the Second Empire, its new railroad stations, the Gare de l’Est and the Gare du Nord. Its name celebrates an 1859 victory over the Austrians.
The road bends gently precisely at number 57, creating an oblique angle which the angel in its gown, finely pleated like the fluting of a Corinthian column, rounds off gracefully. But who designed the angel? Certainly not Demangeat, who had already been awarded commissions for three similar, unadorned buildings in the lower end of the street and was busy with work all over the city. An unsigned drawing published in the 1853 Revue d’Architecture is widely regarded as a prototype for the Turbigo angel. It was submitted by a second-year student of the school of architecture for a lighthouse design competition. We can see why this artistic proposal was spurned. The awkward proportion of the angel to the lighthouse and its fussy base detract from the charm of the concept.
Yet an exact replica of the angel in its 9 meters of glory would find its perfect match seven years later in the rue de Turbigo, located near the Sentier, the garment and trimmings center of Paris. The angel’s frilly details - the tassels on its ears, over its right shoulder and in its right hand, its bead necklace and long ribbon encircling its body - make it a virtual mascot for the passementerie, or trimmings industry, established as a profession under Louis XIV. Two hundred years later, the trade would experience a renaissance, reflecting the opulence and prosperity of the Second Empire. Pompoms, tassels, fringes and braiding embellished womens’ apparel, military uniforms and interior decorating – the Apartments of Napoleon III in the Richilieu wing of the Louvre bear witness to the extravagance of the times. The eclectic trend of the mid-19th century is embodied in the angel’s neo-Grecian profile and Renaissance-style hairdo.
The rue de Turbigo is part of the St Martin district, not an aristocratic area like its neighbor le Marais; with few exceptions it is bereft of the ‘grands hotel particuliers’(private mansions) but is rather the bastion of beautiful homes to rent, known as the ‘palais collectifs’. The upper floors of #57 were graced with an antechamber, dining room, salon and three bedrooms with fireplaces. Early residents included a textile trader, watchmaker, tailor, tie wholesaler, jeweler, doctor, corset-maker and milliner.
One might think the frilly details of the angel betray the hand of a female designer – mais non, c’est impossible! Girl power would not demolish the gender barrier of the Ecole d’Architecture until the admission of Californian Julia Morgan in 1901. (She would later go on to fame and fortune as one of the chief architects of the reconstruction of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and as designer of the Hearst Castle.) So we know for certain that the creator of the angel was a young man, most likely French, of about 28 years of age, recycling a rejected drawing and working with the 43-year old Demangeat.
The building is identified in records and bills of sales as the ‘Maison du Génie’, genie being the French term for any angel used in a civic setting. In spite of its fancy detail, the angel carefully respects the strict Haussmanian building codes, which forbade the use of projecting elements. Its unfurled wings are tucked neatly under the fourth floor balcony, its body flush with the wrought-iron grill work, without obstructing the passage of light into the 90-windowed building.
Next year, the angel of the rue Turbigo celebrates its 150th year of alighting upon #57, a serenely vigilant guardian angel radiating happiness throughout the neighborhood.
57 rue de Turbigo, Metro: Arts et Métiers
Rosemary Flannery is an American artist and writer, based in France for the past twenty years. She is currently studying architecture at the Sorbonne University of Paris.
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte’s professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 3 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Oh, how lovely! I've spent a lot of time in that area - I can't believe I've never seen her!
Posted by: Style Spy | December 21, 2009 at 03:17 PM
A beautiful image for the season, thank you.
Posted by: Jean P in MN | December 21, 2009 at 05:46 PM
Great and detailed entry, thumbs up!
Posted by: Yuriy | December 22, 2009 at 12:15 AM
I absolutely love this building. I think when we come back to Paris we should try to rent one of these apartments!!! And Rosemary Flannery's description of this angel is exquisite! Thank you for this blog!
Posted by: karen | December 26, 2009 at 02:21 PM