Antoine Bourdelle draws her heraklès archer in a temple.

Antoine BOURDELLE (1861.1929)

Autograph letter signed to the architect Alfred Rome.

Two large quarto pages illustrated by his masterpiece Heracles the Archer .

Slight traces of adhesive on the back.

Autographed envelope mounted on paper.

[Paris] June 3, 1926.

is erected in a small temple designed by me

An extraordinary illustrated letter from the French sculptor depicting his Heracles the archer within a colonnaded temple inaugurated in the city of Toulouse.

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“Dear friends Rome. Friend Alfred Rome. I have heard of your nomination to the Legion of Honour. We are very, very happy about it, for your work and for the joy it brings to your home.”

In Toulouse recently, on May 16, 100 sports societies paraded in front of the first ^sports monument erected in France, and it is my great Heracles (bronze) which, in a small temple designed by me, is erected at the threshold of the Toulouse stadium grounds.

Near the Heracles monument, a stele bears, in small bronze relief, the head of a young athlete who died in the war. This temple, made of poured concrete, is roofless. It would cost no more than 60,000 francs if a replica could be built near a stadium in Grenoble. There would be space on the two stelae for two or four athletes. If you have lost loved ones in the war. The ceremonies there are very moving. I would make a few modifications to the temple; for example, we would place it on several steps! Toulouse being the plain – and Grenoble, the mountain! The roll call of the dead was held there in Toulouse. A detachment of soldiers, the mayor, the prefect, a general. One hundred sports clubs in the evening. A banquet for 300 guests.

If you have a stadium in Grenoble, be careful not to leak anything, and if you can show it, only reveal it once you are certain; otherwise, do nothing. Be warned that the price of bronze has increased considerably, and this would be better than having it in a museum . With affection to all the Rome fans. Ant. Bourdelle.

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Heracles the Archer is undoubtedly Antoine Bourdelle's most famous sculpture. It achieved renown from its very first exhibition at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1910. The work depicts the ancient hero firing his arrows at the Stymphalian birds. Several versions of this masterpiece are now preserved throughout the world.

It was in 1925 and at the initiative of Paul Voivenel (1880-1975) that this version of Heracles the archer was installed in Toulouse, in Heracles Square, in memory of all the sportsmen who died in combat during the First World War.

Voivenel, president of the Rugby committee, had approached Bourdelle, born in Montauban and a former student of the Toulouse School of Fine Arts, asking the sculptor to donate a copy of his Heracles to the city of Toulouse. Bourdelle accepted this proposal, designed the entire monument, and agreed to sell the bronze sculpture at cost price.