Susan DURANT
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English sculptor.
Susan Durant had come from Middlesex to study under Henri de Triqueti, whose assistant and companion she became, then had opened her own studio in London, which, for a woman sculptor of the time, was far from a given. Here, it is the master who carved the monument of the pupil, the reverse of what is usually seen. A verse from Saint Luke, in English, closes the epitaph.
The story
It was her master who sculpted her tomb. At Père-Lachaise it is usually the pupils who bury the masters; here, Henri de Triqueti signed the monument of the woman who had been his pupil, his assistant and his companion.
Born in 1827 in Middlesex, Susan Durant came to Paris to study with him, then set up her own studio in London — a rare thing for a woman sculptor in the middle of the nineteenth century. Queen Victoria commissioned from her the medallion of her daughter, Princess Alice, and then the portraits of the royal family for the Albert Chapel at Windsor.
She died on 1 January 1873, in Paris. The inscription in Division 56 gives her trade in an abbreviation — “stat.”, for statuary — and closes on a verse of the Gospel in English: “Thy will be done, not mine. Luke XXII.42.” The words of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, the night before his death.
The grave
A monument sculpted by her master and companion Henri de Triqueti — who rests in Division 42 of the same cemetery — and an epitaph in English drawn from the Gospel: “Susan D. DURANT stat. She died the 1st janu. 1873. Thy will be done, not mine. Luc XXII.42.” The abbreviation “stat.” for statuary gives her the profession of sculptor, and the verse is that of Christ in the Garden of Olives.
On site, do not miss
A monument sculpted by her master Henri de Triqueti. The epitaph is a verse from Saint Luke in English: “Thy will be done, not mine.”
Visitors' questions
Where is Susan Durant's grave?
In Division 56, avenue de la Chapelle, fifth row, under a monument by Henri de Triqueti — her master and companion, who lies himself in Division 42 of the same cemetery. She died on 1 January 1873, at forty-six.
Henri de TriquetiWhat was Henri de Triqueti to her?
Everything at once: her master, her partner — she worked as his assistant — and her companion. It was he who carved her tomb, which is rare: at Père-Lachaise it is usually the pupils who bury the masters.
Pierre Jules CavelierWhat did she sculpt?
The bust of George Grote, historian of Greece and politician, one of the founders of University College London. She had set up her own studio in that city — no small thing for a woman sculptor of the nineteenth century.
Adolphe EudeWhat does her epitaph say?
A verse of Saint Luke, in English: “Thy will be done, not mine. Luc XXII.42.” It is Christ's own line in the garden of Gethsemane.
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