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Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Metal Dragonfly

This sculpture is fixed to the side of a house in Chaumussay, on the corner of Avenue de la gare and rue du bourg. We've posted about it before, but I thought it was worth showing again, with a bit more information.

It is the work of sculptor Alain Brouard, originally from La Guerche, a nearby village, but now living in Brittany. The dragonfly is a Blue Emperor Anax imperator, the largest insect in Europe. The species can be seen on the banks of the Claise River which flows through the village just one street away. The sculpture also references fossil dragonflies from the Carboniferous, 350 million years old, with an 80 centimetre wingspan, gigantic compared to modern dragonflies, but half the size of the sculpture.

Source: Au temps de Chaumussay by Michel Brouard, a local history of the village, available in local newsagents and the mairie at Chaumussay.

3 comments:

sillygirl said...

Wouldn't it be fascinating to be able to go back in time and see the huge ancestor! Love the sculpture as dragonflies are a particular love of mine.

Susan said...

I dunno, I think it might be fairly scary! Dragonflies are ruthless and frighteningly effective hunters and killers :-)

Emm said...

A dragonfly that big makes me think of the Ray Bradbury story about the people who went hunting Tyrannosaurus Rex.
It's an intriguing sculpture, though.

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