This is the second in a series of articles featuring art works on public display in Old Montréal. This time, I have chosen works which are a bit less obvious to public view because they are hidden away inside buildings.

Le Semeur and La Femme au seau welcome you to City Hall

MASTERPIECES IN BRONZE

Behind the monumental exterior of City Hall lies an impressive and elegant interior which is well worth visiting. Just inside the main doors on Rue Notre-Dame stand two larger-than-life-size sculptures which were cast in bronze in 1985 from original plaster maquettes created by the great Montréal sculptor, Alfred Laliberté (1878-1953). A bronze casting made after the death of the artist can not technically be attributed to him as all the finishing of the bronze would have been done by someone else. However, they are typical of the work of Laliberté as anyone who knows his sculpture can attest. To the right as you enter stands a male figure scattering seed from a pouch. This is Le Semeur, a work of great simplicity honouring manual labour. Opposite it on the left, a woman carries a bucket of water. La Femme au seau was a favourite subject of the artist and there are several other versions of it. Together, the two figures evoke the strength and dignity of the first settlers and the hardships they faced, as well as providing a fine introduction to City Hall.

Amphitrite dips her feet in the fountain at the Centre de commerce mondial

A GODDESS IN STONE

Inside the Centre de commerce mondial on the north side of Rue Saint-Jacques, there are some unexpected treasures. For example, there is an interesting pool resembling an enormous marble table over which water runs so smoothly that most people have to stick their hand into it to believe it really exists (presently under renovation). Beside the pool, in a stairwell, there is a second fountain with a handsome female statue at its centre representing the goddess, Amphitrite, consort of Poseidon, Greek god of the sea. So how did a Greek goddess end up in Montréal?

The work of French sculptor and architect, Dieudonné Barthélemy Guibal, she was made in the mid-18th century and once graced a fountain in Saint-Mihiel in Northern France. In fact, she stood there when some of the inhabitants left their community to settle in the wilds of the New World - in the far-flung mission city of Montréal. In the early 1990s, Amphitrite who had been consigned to a warehouse was brought here by Power Corporation whose offices overlook the fountain. Thus, the goddess makes an elegant link between the old land and the new and, considering her location, between the Old City and modern downtown.

CONCRETE DIRECT FROM BERLIN

This section of the Berlin Wall keeps nobody out

At the eastern (Rue Saint-Pierre) end of the Centre de commerce mondial stands a large chunk of concrete and steel with brightly coloured graffiti on one side. One of Montréal’s most unusual monuments, this is actually a piece of the Berlin Wall which divided the German capital from 1961-1989. This particular section was originally located close to the Brandenburg Gate. The brightly coloured graffiti faced West Berlin, the plainer more severe side faced the East. It stands as a monument to freedom and it was a gift to Montréal from the City of Berlin in 1992 on the occasion of the city’s 350th anniversary. It is rather appropriately located on Ruelle des Fortifications where once Montréal’s own city walls rose.

Patria watches you withdraw cash in the Bank of Montréal

VICTORY IN MARBLE

The Neo-Classical facade of the Bank of Montréal dominates the north side of Place d’Armes. Built in 1847, it was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The interior however has a different feel since it was completely redone by Stamford White of the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White between 1901 and 1905. Walking through the main bronze doors, you enter a wide atrium lined with massive Ionic columns in green syenite granite leading to the main banking hall. White was inspired by the basilica style of some of the great churches of Rome, notably Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo fuori le Mura. The floor of this area is actually a bridge over the laneway (Ruelle des Fortifications) below. Directly ahead, a magnificent marble figure of Victory dominates the view. Clutching palm fronds and a sword in her arms, “Patria” is actually a war memorial commemorating the 231 employees of the Bank of Montréal who were killed during the First World War. She was the work of the noted American sculptor, James Earle Fraser, who is probably best known for his monumental seated statue of Benjamin Franklin in the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

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