The “Maid” is expensive for the people of Nice. The administrative court of Nice, seized by the prefect, indicated on Wednesday that it had canceled the contract signed by the metropolis of Nice with an artists' workshop for the creation of a monumental statue of Joan of Arc, therefore forcing the city to disassemble.
For its Jeanne d'Arc car park, the metropolitan car park authority had signed a contract with Atelier Missor, which the city presents as “a collective of artists based in Nice”. But this contract had been concluded without advertising or competitive bidding, the court criticized.
In its order issued Tuesday, the administrative justice considered that the Parcs d'Azur authority had not established “particular artistic reasons (which) would have required that this order for a monumental sculpture of Joan of Arc (…) be entrusted exclusively to Atelier Missor”.
“Such a failure to comply with the obligations of publicity and competitive bidding constitutes a particularly serious defect likely to result in the cancellation of the contract in dispute,” the court said in a press release on Wednesday.
Contacted by AFP, the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, headed by prefect Hugues Moutouh, indicated that this legal decision “implies the dismantling of the statue” and “the reimbursement by the service provider of the sums paid to him”, i.e. 170,000 euros excluding taxes, specifying that “any appeal against this judgment is not suspensive” and that a letter “will be sent to the Parcs d'Azur management to remind her that she must execute the judgment without delay.”
The management indicated that it would appeal this decision, saying it was “surprised”, insofar as the same court, seized for summary proceedings, had adopted an opposite position in a decision rendered on February 23.
This monumental work in bronze, gilded with fine gold, weighs 9 tonnes and measures 4.50 m in height. It depicts Joan of Arc on horseback brandishing a sword and was installed in the city garden over a new underground car park located near the Sainte Joan of Arc church, in the center of Nice.
