Monument to Gratitude to France, Kalemegdan

The Gratitude to France monument, the work of Ivan Meštrović, sculptor, was erected at the end of the main path of the Kalemegdan Park on November 11, 1930, as a symbol of friendship and cooperation between Serbia and France in WW I. The monument was financed by the Friends of France Society and the Society of Former French Students. The monument consists of a female figure in bronze, a representation of France offering help to Serbia with martial enthusiasm, a high, simple marble plinth with two low reliefs chiseled in its lower part. The west side shows French and Serbian soldiers, while the east side bears a personification of Sorbonne as a young woman surrounded by students. These reliefs in art deco style were made after Meštrović’s drawings by sculptors Frano Kršinić and Antun Augustinčić. The remaining two sides bear the following inscriptions: We love France as France loved us, and A la France. With this work Meštrović introduced a new concept of public monuments in our culture, memorials which are monumental and expressive, and openly transmit a particular idea.