Not only is there a real rue Rude in Paris, but it's named, like most Paris streets, after a real person whose name was François Rude (and François means "French" so that's perfect as far as I'm concerned). He was a sculptor born in 1784 in Dijon, and his timing turned out to be lucky... many of the great French monuments were built in his time, and he had a hand in the column at Place Vendôme, the church of Saint-Gervais, and even the Arc de Triomphe. My favorite sculpture of his stands under the great skylight in the sculpture section of the Louvre. It's Joan of Arc, listening to her voices. (You can click to enlarge the photos. By the way, did you know that the Ministre de Finances used to park its cars in this courtyard? Ben oui!)
What I didn't know, though, is that his wife was a sculptor, too. Anonymous was a woman! At least until recently. The Dijon Fine Arts Museum is having an exhibition dedicated to the couple d'artistes in its Rude section (yes! There is a Musée Rude!) and has put up these posters in the Paris metro.
