Louis Janthial Sculptor
Above the entrance to the Post Office in Quai General de Gaulle Amboise, is a low relief carving depicting François I and Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to a long lens, and because the artist signed it, we know who sculpted the charming scene but unfortunately not when.
Louis Janthial was born (1904) and died (1965) in Paris. Spotted while carrying out restoration on works of art in the Palais Bourbon, Paris he was offered a scholarship to study sculpture at the school of Beaux-Arts. Specialising in busts, he won the Bronze Medal in 1935.
He had a connection with the Post Office because he regularly exhibited in the Salon des Artistes de PTT (Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones). Is this when he received the commission for the Amboise Post Office?
Before the war, he received many prestigious commissions but in 1940, a bridegroom of just four months, he was interned in Frontstalag 124 in Troyes, a German Army prison camp in occupied France. Luckily, he was not sent to a concentration camp but sadly, his marriage of four months did not survive the war.
This talented sculptor was obviously not able to earn a living during the war or, because it took France many years to recover financially, for years after that.
The post office in Amboise was bombed during WWII. Was the sculpting commissioned for the new one?
Post by Pamela, photography by Mark.
Leonardo da Vinci: The Amboise Connection
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