In September 1943, the artist workshop is bombed, he find then shelter at his friend, Gérard Ducos, long time collector and benefactor during the war. His villa’s called the Thebaide. It’s this way that Janniot was asked by the owner to make during the World War II, an unique series of sculpture to decorate the house and the garden.
This Art Deco all, counting around 40 sculptures, is inspired by the artist’s visits to Anet and Versailles and his previous creations.
The four elements
Placed at the entrance of the patio, four monumental caryatids depict the Fire, the Water, the Earth and the Air.
The Fire
The Water
The Earth
The Air
The marmosets
In the park, seven stone marmosets depicting gods from the Ancient mythology lead to the water piece.
Bacchus with the vine
Artemis the hunter
Hermes, messenger of the gods
Aphrodite on a dolphin
Aphrodite with a fish
or Child bearing a fish in a shell
Hercules killing a snake
Poseidon on a dolphin or Eros on a dolphin
The other sculptures of the park
The groupe symbolizing
« The Day and The Night », surmounted by a wrought iron sphere, and resting on a Corinthian capital
This centaur bust placed in the park paid tribute to Rodin
Some stone filled baskets and amphoras were completed the park decoration
Inside the villa
The inside of the villa was also adorned with sculptures made by the artist. Especially, the fireplace was surmounted by a splendid bas-relief depicting « Gaïa, the Ancestral mother, Caea, Hêlios, Sélène, Dionysos and Eros »
This high-relief, set as a trumeau above the fireplace, depicts on the center Gaia, the Ancestral mother giving her breast to a child surrounding by earth divinities that we also find on the decor of the Palais de Tokyo’s facade dedicated to the Earth Legend.