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Statue Of Meditation

Robert Delandere
Marble statue
1933
Conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens

This statue once divided the critics. Brought to Australia by Madame Gaston-Saint, an Australian who married a wealthy Frenchman, the statue's intended destination was the Victorian town of Rheole, where it would memorialise her father. When this failed to transpire, it was erected in Fitzroy Gardens. Just prior to its unveiling, acclaimed sculptor Paul Montford complained in a letter to the mayor: 'In my opinion its artistic value is far below any other statuary in Fitzroy Gardens, and it is probably the worst figure in any public place in Melbourne.'

City Of Melbourne