François Antoine Roume, Gyptis and Protis, the founding myth of Marseille.

François Antoine Roume (Marseille 1873 - Buenos Aires 1960) Gyptis and Protis, the legendary founders of Marseille. Circa 1935. Plaster. 50 X 38 X 14 cm. Unsigned. Accidents. Gyptis, the daughter of the king of the Segobriges, an indigenous Celtic tribe from Bouches-du-Rhône, presents Protis, a Phocaean sailor, with a cup of water. By this gesture, the young woman has chosen her husband. Thus, according to legend (as recounted by Aristotle and later by Justin), the city of Marseille was born from the union of the Greeks and the Celts around 600 BC. Although Gyptis and Protis are considered the founding figures of Marseille, their representation in sculpture remains relatively rare. This work, created by François Roume, depicts the young couple in a tender and loving posture, possessing exceptional aesthetic and historical value. François Antoine Roume is a Marseille sculptor active from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. A student of Émile Aldebert at the École des Beaux-Arts in Marseille, he won several awards, including the Cantini Prize in 1891. After his studies, he began a career as a sculptor and gallery owner (on Boulevard de Longchamp). In the late 1910s or early 1920s, he emigrated to Argentina, where several of his children were born, including his son Carlos Roume (1923-2009), a famous Argentine illustrator and painter. François Antoine Roume periodically returned to France and, probably during his visits, he created his group of Gyptis and Protis.