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Room to Talk 3 template (adapted) by Connie Prince Designs
Vintage Noir collection by ADB Designs
Journaling:
Victor Noir was a young journalist whose editor was challenged to a duel by a prince because the editor had written a controversial article about Napoleon Bonaparte who was the prince’s great uncle. Victor was one of the seconds for the duel and when he went to arrange the time and place, there was an argument and the prince pulled out a gun and shot Victor who fell dead. The fact that a member of the emperor’s family shot a journalist led to violent demonstrations and Victor Noir became a revolutionary symbol.
20 years after his death, Victor Noir’s body was moved to Pere Lachaise cemetery to honour him and the sculptor Dalou was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture for the grave. The interesting part of the story starts with that sculpture. For some reason, Dalou decided to sculpt Noir’s body as it was at death, lying flat on the ground. The sculpture included a substantial bulge in a provocative place and a story was started. It seems that if young women rub the statue they will be fertile and over time, the lips, toes and crotch of the sculpture have been worn shiny with repeated rubbing by countless hopeful women. The story goes that touching one foot of the statue helps in getting pregnant while rubbing the other is done in hopes of having twins. Women have been known to come back after the birth of their children and leave photos on the grave in tribute for the help with fertility.
When I looked at the much-handled sculpture on the grave and saw the flowers, photos and tributes, I really had to look twice at the age of the man who was the center of all this attention. According to the birth and death dates, Victor Noir was a mere 21 years old at the time of his death. I doubt he ever dreamed that he would have notoriety over 150 years later as a sex symbol.