Parisians and tourists can admire thirty or so statues a little scattered in the Jardin des Plantes. And anyone can, since last week, adopts one! A public subscription was launched by the museum of natural history in order to collect 200,000 euros, the price of restoration work.
The sculptures are part of the heritage and culture, they are from the late nineteenth century. Between erasing the graffiti, strengthening the pedestals, cleaning the marble of the moss amassed over time, and the bronze damaged by oxidation, the work is colossal.
This is not the first time the museum has used donations for renovation assistance. "We did it for Buffon's gazebo, which is this building at the top of the labyrinth, it's the second oldest building in the world, so it's really a very important historical heritage. enclosures and the little cabin that houses the last wild horses of the world, the horses of Przewalski," confides to France 24 Bruno David, the President of the museum.
"It worked well," says the museum's president, "so we do it again for the statues of the Jardin des Plantes. You can adopt a statue: there are lions, famous scientific characters, more modest statues, there is a statue of Michel-Eugène Chevreul, a famous chemist who has lived more than 100 years and worked at the museum."
Free tickets and private visits for the donors who have put their hand in the pocket, and for the most generous, it will be possible to have its name engraved at the bottom of the statue for ... 10.000 euros. For the good cause.
