[VIDEO] O Jasmine, your statue is reborn!

The date remains to be determined, but the decision has been made: the statue of Jasmin will be back in Agen next month. Removed last January, after more than 150 years of uninterrupted presence on the square of the same name, our bronze Jasmine will indeed return to its city sooner than expected, after a rejuvenation treatment spent in Dordogne. Remember that this emblematic Agenais monument took advantage of the works in town to leave exceptionally for a makeover (which the hairdresser Jacques Boé dit Jasmin would only have encouraged).

It is in Périgueux, in Marsac-sur-l’Isle precisely, that the restoration work on the statue was completed this week. A final touch was brought to this 3 m high monument (and weighing some 800 kg), in the workshops of the Socra company.

Prestigious construction sites

Specialized in the restoration of heritage decorations and monuments, Socra is a reference and has prestigious projects to its credit. The Hôtel des Invalides in Paris or the Mont Saint-Michel have, for example, welcomed its expert workers, and the Périgord company is currently working at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, but also at the Grand Palais – excuse the bit… Stone, metal, paving, the SME with 42 employees is successfully building sites all over France, and in the South-West let’s mention the church of Layrac, or that of Marmande currently under construction.

For Agen, the company has made a point of responding to the city’s call for tenders, as explained by its managing director, Richard Boyer: « I grew up in Agen, and I did my schooling at Jasmin college, so you think if I know!”, loose, a big smile on his lips, the one who is also a former student of Palissy high school then of the Pin university. “When I learned that a statue renovation project was in the works, I alerted my local informants [N.D.L.R. : sa famille vit toujours à Agen] and we were on the lookout for the tender. We also made an on-site visit, to properly prepare our file. » Socra will finally win the contract, taking responsibility for the restoration of the statue and subcontracting that of the base to the company Boldini (based in Puymirol , and to whom we owe the roof of the Tour des Pénitents).

Aged by time and pollution

Deposed on January 24, the statue of Jasmin arrived in one piece in the suburbs of Périgueux, then entrusted to a team led by Benoît Destang. Here again, a little wink from Agenais: the workshop foreman is from Casteljaloux, and a graduate of the DUT Gaco d’Agen. « When the monument arrived, he explains, we dismantled the small parts fixed to the body of the statue: the cushion, the lyre, elements of flowers, the pompoms of the cushion. Once this dismantling was carried out, we discovered the parts that were sheltered from bad weather and pollution, which had almost retained their original color », a rather dark bronze green.

« The statue had obviously aged over time, the sun, the rain, » adds Richard Boyer. « His epidermis was affected by the oxidation of bronze, with greenish or whitish colors, even black spots linked to atmospheric pollution. » Jasmin has indeed been breathing exhaust pipes for so many decades…

An artificial patina

This oxidation of the bronze (in fact, that of the copper contained in the bronze) had to be erased in a sandblasting cabinet, via cleaning by micro scrubbing: a low pressure of abrasive powder allowing the various layers of oxidation to be removed, and to find the original bronze. « We then had the final color that the restored statue was going to have validated by the City of Agen and by the architect of the Historic Monuments, then we worked on the artificial patina », add those responsible for this millimetric operation.

To give a bit of experience to this « new skin », the statue was then heated point by point with a blowtorch, then applied with a brush several layers of copper nitrate. After rinsing, the last operation: applying a layer of wax to preserve this patina from oxidation – at least for five years.

The result is there: the statue is like new, it looks like it had when it was inaugurated on May 12, 1870, in the presence of Frédéric Mistral. From verdigris, Jasmin has taken back its bottle green or empire green color and all the details of Gabriel Vital-Dubray’s sculpture (Jasmin’s jacket, his watch chain, the Legion of Honor, the flowers of jasmine, stacked books, but also facial features, etc.) gain in sharpness.

The work is therefore complete. All that’s missing is the granite plinth, restored in Puymirol. It weighs a trifle of 20 tons and will be rested on the square (still under construction) a few days before the statue is fixed there.

This return of Jasmin to the house (on a site a little closer to the boulevard de la République) will allow the completion of the developments around it, in particular the forecourt of the « new place Jasmin », which will be inaugurated at the end of August during the Fêtes d’Agen . A great moment in perspective.