Rousseau Statue by Pradier on the Ile Rousseau

What it is

This is a black-and-white glass lantern slide photograph of a seated bronze statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, created by the sculptor James Pradier between 1830 and 1835. The statue stands on a tall granite pedestal surrounded by an iron railing on the Ile Rousseau in Geneva, Switzerland. The slide itself was used for art history teaching at the Université de Louvain.

Why it matters

Decades after Rousseau's death, his home city of Geneva honoured him with this neoclassical monument, showing his lasting importance as a philosopher and native son. The photograph also shows how such monuments were studied as examples of nineteenth-century sculpture.

Look closer

• Why might Geneva have chosen to place a statue of Rousseau on an island named after him?
• What does the seated pose and classical style suggest about how Rousseau was remembered?
• What does a teaching slide like this tell us about how art history was studied at the time?