La République

About La République

La République on this page is Jean-François Soitoux’s outdoor statue on Quai Malaquais, at Esplanade Mahmoud-Darwich near Rue de Seine and the Institut de France. It is not the much larger Monument à la République on Place de la République in eastern Paris. The City’s council record confirms Soitoux’s allegory at the 6th-arrondissement riverside site and says it was installed there in 1992 after municipal restoration.

Soitoux’s design came from the Second Republic’s 1848 competition for an official figure of the new regime. The work was shown at the Salon in 1850, installed before the Institut de France in 1880, removed in 1962 and returned to Quai Malaquais for the bicentenary of the First Republic. The official open-air sculpture catalogue records another restoration in 2024.

Look for a standing woman draped in classical clothing, crowned with a star, laurels and a band referring to the democratic Republic of 24 February. Her left hand rests on a fasces, while her right holds a downward-pointing sword beside an altar-like element bearing an urn, level and a scroll marked “Constitution française.” These attributes belong to Soitoux’s single allegorical figure.

By contrast, the Place de la République monument was created by the Morice brothers and inaugurated in 1883. Its bronze Marianne stands above separate figures of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and twelve historical reliefs. Demonstrations, ceremonies, security perimeters and Métro République service concern that square, not automatically the Quai Malaquais statue.

The checked official sources publish no monument-specific opening hours, admission rule, step-free route or transport instruction for Soitoux’s statue. Do not label it 24-hour or free without a dedicated source. It is viewed from the surrounding public esplanade; consult current City notices if works or an event alter access to Quai Malaquais.

Practical details

Website

https://anosgrandshommes.musee-orsay.fr/index.php/Detail/objects/5365

Sources

• a06-v7.apps.paris.fr
• anosgrandshommes.musee-orsay.fr
• www.musee-orsay.fr
• www.paris.fr
• anosgrandshommes.musee-orsay.fr

Checked 2026-09-06

Where it is

• 1 hour

  1 min walk · Paris 6e Arrondissement

  square Honoré-Champion

  • High
  • Nature site
• 45 min

  1 min walk · Paris 6e Arrondissement

  Librairie des Alpes

  • Notable
  • Market
• 1 hour

  2 min walk · Paris 6e Arrondissement

  Square Gabriel-Pierné

  • High
  • Nature site

External links

• View on Wikidata