Square Gabriel Pierné, an unusual public garden
Gabriel Pierné Square is a small public garden nestled at the rear of the Institute of France.
It was originally hemmed in by several buildings, which were demolished in 1937 to open up the area surrounding the institute.
Unfortunately, this work led to the demolition of a 16th-century building, located at the corner of Rue Mazarine and Rue de Seine, which made way for the tiny Square de la Rue Mazarine.
This opening up, however, benefited the Square Gabriel Pierné, whose area increased to 644 square metres.
The garden was named in 1969 in honour of Gabriel Pierné, a renowned organist, composer, and conductor who lived in the neighbourhood. The Square Gabriel Pierné differs from other classic Parisian public gardens because its ground is not covered with sand, but paved with sandstone and granite slabs.
The public garden may be small, but it has enough space to house several remarkable sculptures.
One of them, installed in 1968, sparked controversy because of its depiction of a nude young girl. Known as “Carolina,” the bronze statue is the work of the Florentine sculptor Marcello Tommasi, who apparently used his own daughter as a model.
However, more conventional is the stone fountain located in the centre of the garden, created in 1830 by Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard, the son of the painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
The Fragonard Fountain was listed as a historical monument in 1952. It consists of a column crowned with an allegorical sculpture representing two faces symbolising Commerce and Abundance.
The fountain originally stood in the Carmes Market, near Place Maubert in the 5th arrondissement, and was moved to Square Gabriel Pierné when the market was demolished in 1930.
Square Gabriel Pierné – Book-shaped benches
Like any public garden in Paris, the Square Gabriel Pierné has benches, two limestone benches shaped like open books resting on the spines of closed ones, a subtle nod to the nearby Bibliothèque Mazarine, the prestigious library of the Institut de France.
The square is also located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, near the Quartier Latin, two neighbourhoods that have always been a haven for artists, philosophers, and intellectuals, particularly in the mid-20th century.
The littel public garden is thus a hidden oasis, nestled among ornamental plants: magnolias, rhododendrons, cherry trees with pink blossoms, and also a magnificent sixty-year-old catalpa tree with beautiful, renowned for itsfragrant white flowers.
Directions: 6th district – Square Gabriel Pierné
Metro: Pont Neuf on Line 1 or Saint-Germain-des-Prés on Line 4
Coordinates: Lat 48.856972 – Long 2.336749
