Les Dames d’Anjou by Laure Duquesne

Les Dames d’Anjou (The Ladies of the Anjou) is part of the Échappées d’Art project in Angers which began in 2016. This year, 2018, there are multiple art projects to enjoy. The street art first captivated me and I had a great time searching out all the invited paintings as well as the random “graffiti”.

However, the Dames d’Anjou really exposed me to some unknown historical details. Each of the women portrayed by the sculptor Laure Duquesne  has an historical connection to the Anjou (Maine et Loire) Department. She has designed them to be part of the community as it were.

Their pose invites you to sit with them a while and get to know them. There is a little plaque with a brief history of each woman. Although they are all the same shape, their variety of color makes each an individual.

Les Dames d’Anjou – Château Place

The first Sunday we were in Angers we discovered these two ladies sitting in front of the Château of Angers, watching the comings and goings of the antiquities market. The Dame d’Anjou in green is Yolande d’Aragon, duchess of Anjou (1380-1442). She is called the Reine des quatre Royaumes (the queen of four kingdoms) and was politically influential at the end of the 100 year war.

Yolande d’Aragon and Georgette Boulestreau

The second Dames d’Anjou in black, sitting next to Yolande d’Aragon,  is Georgette Boulestreau (1903 – 1986) who fought for the rights of women in the 20^th century. Boulestreau was a sage-femme angevine, a mid-wife from the Anjou region.

Across the plaza from the two sculptures above we found Anne Dacier (1654 – 1720) in brown. She translated the epic Greek poems by Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, from Greek to French.

Anne Dacier

Les Dame d’Anjou – Place Ralliement

Charlotte Blouin

Perched amidst the verdure on Place Ralliement we found Charlotte Blouin from the 18^th century. Covered in vines, she fits in perfectly. In 1783 she founded the first center in the Anjou for persons who were deaf and mute.

Germaine Canonne

By the fountain in front of Galeries Lafayette, Germaine Canonne (1909 – 2009) enjoys the sun. She was a professor of English. In 1945 she was the first woman to be elected as Angevine representative. It was in October 1944 that women first received the right to vote.

Eleanor of Aquitane

This lovely red Dame d’Anjou is on the opposite side of Place Ralliement. She is Eleanor of Aquitane (1124 – 1204), Queen consort of both France and England. She was also countess of the Anjou by marriage to Henri II Plantagenêt.

A La Rencontre Des Dames d’Anjou is truly an enjoyable encounter with the history of the region! I shared only morsels of their history, just as their plaques do in hopes to inspire you to read more about their lives as I was.