Maurice Ringot

Maurice Ringot (1880–1951) was a French sculptor, best known for his war memorials.

War Memorials

Ringot came from a family of marbriers and sculptors, and studied in local colleges before entering the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille and then Paris. After his studies he returned to Bergues, married Hélène Sagary and set up his studio in the rue de l’Arsenal. There he produced his first major monument: the figure of Johannes Gutenberg for the front of the building used by the newspaper Le Nord Maritime in Dunkirk. (This work can now be seen in the hall of the Jean Bart school).

In 1910 he moved to Malo-les-Bains and employed several workers and artists, one of whom was Louis Piron. Ringot worked on the original Malo-les-Bains war memorial, which stands in the cemetery there, and also those at Bergues, Rosendaël, Coudekerque Branche and Saint Pol sur Mer. He was also the sculptor of the original war memorial at Leffrinckoucke, but this appears to have been destroyed in World War II and replaced. Given that French communes gave priority to local sculptors, it is not surprising that in the Nord department Ringot was chosen as sculptor.

Ringot's principal war memorials surround Dunkirk. At Bergues, nine kilometres to the south of Dunkirk, Ringot’s composition is dramatic: the female allegorical limestone figure of Begues, at the top of the monument, holds a palm, while below her a dead soldier in bronze lies prostrate on his stomach, clutching a branch of laurel. The monument was inaugurated on June 10th 1923, damaged in fighting in 1940, and restored in 1945. Several bullet holes can still be seen in the bronze of the prostrate soldier.^[1]

Ringot produced another dramatic composition for Rosendaël, also close to Dunkirk. The memorial stands in the Place de l’Abbée Bonpain, honoring the 481 local citizens killed in the Great War. At the top of the composition are two women, one standing and representing France, the other sitting, representing "History and Letters," and noting the achievements of France's children. Below several soldiers, led by a winged angel of victory, spring out from a grave whose headstone has splintered and symbolically crushed a German Imperial eagle. Smaller groups represent the horrors of war -- the death of a loved one, aerial bombings, sinking of ships, and forced labour. The monument was inaugurated on the 6th November 1921.^[2][3] Also in Rosendaël, Ringot designed a monument honouring René Bonpain, a well-loved local cleric, active in the resistance, arrested and shot by the Germans in 1943.

Other more minor examples in the area include Ringot's memorials in Coudekerque Branch, more conservative in its composition; the monument in Pol sur Mer in which a woman kneels before a pile of rubble and a soldier's helmet^[4]; and the memorial at Bois Grenier, a commune some 3.5 kilometres south of Armentieres, inaugurated on the September 11th, 1927.

Other Work

Ringot's other works include:

• various Art Nouveau style carvings including the allegories of “Day” and “Night”, 51 Avenue Gustave-Lemaire in Malo-Les-Bains, circa 1903–1910
• various items in the parish church of Saint Roch, Armentières
• Sculptural work around the entrance of the church of St. Willibrord in Gravelines
• tympanum above the méridional door, at the Lille Cathedral
• A bas-relief above one of the windows of the building at 58 rue Carnot in Bergues, representing the grain trade. The building was erected in 1907/1908 as premises for a grain dealer
• The statues of St Joseph and others by the main entrance of Notre Dame du Sacré-Cœur in the place Turenne in Malo-Les-Bains
• The bust of Florent Guillain in Dunkirk
• The statue of the Virgin Mary in the Petite-Chapelle in Dunkirk
• carvings in the parish church of Saint Gohard in Merville
• Architectural carvings on the Anatole France school in Saint Pol sur Mer, 1908
• A sculpture on the front of the Town Hall of La Bassée. This features a group which includes the painter Léopold Boilly (born in La Basée)
• Work in the parish church of Saint Vaast in La Basée
• carpentry work on the organ, for the church of Saint Martin in Le Doulieu
• in Rosendaël, a monument commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the commune (1860 to 1910), depicting its two main activities, fishing and market gardening

References

1. ^ http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/memoire_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_1=REF&VALUE_1=IVR31_94592176XA
2. ^ http://www.memorial-genweb.org/~memorial2/html/fr/resultcommune.php?insee=59510&dpt=59&idsource=46928&table=bp07
3. ^ http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/memoire_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_1=REF&VALUE_1=IVR31_90590951X
4. ^ http://www.memorial-genweb.org/~memorial2/html/fr/resultcommune.php?insee=59540&dpt=59&idsource=46805&table=bp07

External links

• Details of Bergues monument aux morts
• Publication by City of Dunkirk with photograph of Rosendaël monument aux morts.
• Article with photograph Coudekerque Branche monument aux morts

Persondata
Name	Ringot, Maurice
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1880
Place of birth
Date of death	1951
Place of death