Vier Jaargetijden

English translation

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Description

Introduction

'Four Seasons', four cast-iron STATUES of allegorical female figures on sandstone PLINTHS, representing the four seasons. The statues stand in the green strip along the Nassausingel. The statues are located within the nationally protected townscape of Nijmegen.

The statues were cast from designs by the French artist MATHURIN MOREAU (1822-1912) by the renowned Paris foundry SOCIETE DES FONDERIES DU VAL D'OSNE. The female figures are classically inspired, with drapery in the Greek wet style. The plinths were made by MATTHIJS VAN ROGGEN (1863-death date unknown).

The statues were presented to the city of Nijmegen in 1889 by two local organisations dedicated to the improvement and expansion of Nijmegen's public parks, the Baron Paulus Straalman Fund (established in 1826) and the Society for the Beautification of Nijmegen and Surroundings (established in 1879). Originally, the four statues were also erected in the green strip of the Nassausingel, but in the nineteen-sixties they were relocated to Hunnerpark due to remodelling of the Nassausingel. In 2012 they were brought back to the newly arranged green strip along the Nassausingel.

Description

The four cast-iron STATUES are painted green and lacquered and each measure 160 cm. The PLINTHS are executed in Namur stone and are 115 cm high. The statues represent the goddesses Flora (spring), Ceres (summer), Pomona (autumn) and Vesta (winter). They are identifiable by their attributes, respectively a budding branch, ears of corn, a bunch of grapes and a fire pot. The four goddesses have a similar body posture, hair pinned up and are dressed in classical drapery, which follows the body in the manner of the wet style. They hold the attribute in their right hand. The left hand is slightly raised. The plinths are simple, profiled plinths with basement and cap plate. On the front is the inscription: 'Presented by the Beautification Society and the Straalman Fund 1889'.

Valuation

'Four Seasons', four cast-iron STATUES on PLINTHS from 1889

-Of art-historical value as a fine and good example of statues from the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century, intended for the beautification of public space. The classically inspired statues embody a classical theme, characteristic of the period in which the statues were created and their function.

-Of urban planning value as part of the green strip along the Nassausingel.

-Of cultural-historical value as an expression of a technical and urban planning development, as cast-iron statues an example of the increasing use of cast iron for utilitarian and artistic objects in the nineteenth century, and as an example of the use of beautification elements in Dutch public city parks and squares that were created in many cities from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards following the dismantling of city ramparts.