I've love winged horses—“Pegasi”—forever. My mother had a book of myths with a beautiful illustration of Pegasus from the golden age, and the quality of the draftmanship, and the delicacy of the colour, just enchanted me. (The wing was probably taken off a diagram of how to draw animals by Ernest Thompson Seton or similar, though I wouldn't realize that until decades later. At the time I was just awed that an artist could detail each feather so accurately.^[1] )

sony rx100, f5/6, 1/800sec, 37.0 focal length, auto white balance, rotated and cropped. Click on the image for a full-sized version.

So I just loved these gilded sculptures in all their golden glory, and though my photography can't do justice to them, the lighting was darn near perfect, so I had that going for me, at least. They make up part of the ‘bridge of Alexander III’, dedicated to the Russian czar, with whom France had just signed a treaty. This most famous of Parisian bridges was within walking distance of Ile Saint-Louis, where we were lucky enough to stay, so I could and did walk over to it when I thought the light would be good—roughly 8:45 pm, if I set the clock on my camera correctly.

f6.3, 1/250sec, 22.00 focal length, auto white balance, rotated. Click on the image for a full-sized version.

Here's the other side, showing the entire pedestal, though unfortunately the focus isn't as good. —Nevertheless, of the roughly 1100 images I shot of Paris, these are among my favourites, which is not terribly surprising, given the iconography, not to mention the fact that they're in one of my very favourite styles, art noveau.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.