accepted by the court. Aftermath A public outcry followed and on 12 January, led by political activist Auguste Blanqui, more than 100,000 people joined Noir's funeral procession to a cemetery in Neuilly. Attendance in this procession was regarded as a civic duty for republicans. When Marie François Sadi Carnot endorsed electoral candidates, he often identified them as such attendees. ("") At a time when the emperor was already unpopular, Pierre's acquittal on the murder charge caused enormous public outrage and a number of violent demonstrations. The Franco-Prussian War resulted in the overthrow of the Emperor's regime on 4 September 1870 and the establishment of the Third Republic. In 1891 the body of Victor Noir was moved to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Monument A life-sized bronze statue was sculpted by Jules Dalou to mark his grave, portrayed in a realistic style as though he had just fallen on the street, dropping his hat which is depicted beside him. The sculpture has a very noticeable protuberance in Noir's trousers. This has made it one of the most popular memorials for women to visit in the famous cemetery. The myth says that placing a flower in the upturned top hat after kissing the statue on the lips and rubbing its genital area will enhance fertility, bring a blissful sex life, or, in some versions, a husband within the year. As a result of the legend, those particular components of the otherwise verdigris (grey-green oxidized bronze) statue are rather well-worn and shiny, as are the tips of the boots. In 2004 a fence was erected around the statue of Noir, to deter superstitious people from touching the statue. However, due to supposed protests from the "female population of Paris", in fact led by French TV anchor Péri Cochin, it was torn down again. Notes References Bibliography Émile Ollivier, L'empire libéral: études, récits, souvenirs, Paris: Garnier, 1908 Pierre de La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, tome sixième, Paris: Plon, 1903 Roger L. Williams, Manners and Murders in the World of Louis-Napoleon, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, c.1975, 147–150. External links "Statue Fenced Off to Protect Groin" Pere Lachaise virtual tour 3d Model on SketchFab Victor Noir & Friends 1848 births 1870 deaths 19th-century French journalists 19th-century French male writers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Deaths by firearm in France French male journalists French people of Jewish descent Murdered French journalists People from