Monument aux morts

English translation

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Description

The monument of Commentry is constituted of a block sculpted in limestone from Vilhonneur (4.70 m x 3.40 m) placed on a base and set against an inclined wall flanked by two stelae slightly taller. The sculpture by Desruelles is placed at the centre of the composition. The peasant with an expressive face recollects himself, leaning on his scythe, hat in hand, wearing trousers and a shirt with hanging folds. He carries a coffin (case containing the stone to sharpen the scythe) suspended from his belt. On the monument is carved the inscription The city of Commentry to its children victims of the war. The theme of the sculpture and this inscription links the edifice to a lineage of monuments, which, without being as hostile to war as that of Gentioux in Creuse, nevertheless move away from the glorification of the heroic and vengeful soldier. It fits into the current of monuments to peace and tribute to the working world, where the lamentation of the dead takes precedence over the exaltation of their sacrifice. The sculpture in the round makes two sufferings coexist: that of the peasant who seems overwhelmed by the labour of the work of the earth, and that of the soldier, whose body buried in this same earth is only glimpsed by the presence of a helmet, hastily placed on a post after combat. This theatrical shorthand brings the two sufferings symbolically close together. The scene is obviously unrealistic, because one cannot imagine a harvest carried out near the front, where the body of a soldier would have been buried summarily. The monument of Commentry constitutes the synthesis of two sculptures by Desruelles: the shepherd leaning on a staff from La Pastorale of 1923 (at Commentry the staff is replaced by a peasant's scythe) and the miner from the monument of Auchel (project conceived in 1924). The resemblance to this latter gives the peasant of Commentry an atypical appearance. He presents an emaciated face, which could be that of a mine worker, and is dressed in the trousers and blouse of the galibot. Moreover, he holds a soft hat in his hand. To be a convincing peasant, he ought to have worn a biaude, sabots and a broad-brimmed hat. In fact, more than fidelity to reality, Desruelles wished to merge the allegorical figures. This is what he did deliberately in his monument to Jean Jaurès, also delivered in 1924, where he represented a peasant sowing, his head covered with a miner's helmet. The monument of Commentry is a variant of the war memorial of Suippes, which represents a gleaner gathering sheaves of wheat in a sack and discovering the grave of a dead soldier, materialized by a helmet placed on a small stele.