Frescos at the Rotonde: College de France

Two large frescos appear in The Rotonde of the College de France in Paris.

French artist Pierre Bompard (1890-1962) installed the frescos in 1938. Both tell the story of the universe, and are called ‘Le Cosmos: Allegory of physics and chemistry combined with the four elements.’

In the centre is a statue with a lamp on top, called Luminaire (1938), by French sculptor Pierre-Marie Poisson (1876-1953). He also designed a fountain in the Trocadero.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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