1859

Acrylic on linen canvas.

100x70cm

Planted in 1859 in the heart of the island’s salt marshes, this cork oak is remarkable for its rarity at this latitude, as well as for its origin, history, and preservation.

It was planted by Jean-Denis Devineau (1832–1906), a sailor from Noirmoutier. At the age of twenty, he was called up to the Navy and walked all the way to Toulon to embark for the Crimean War (1853–1856), alongside more than 300,000 French soldiers. For seven years, no news of him reached his family until his release in 1859.

On his return journey, again on foot, Devineau most likely brought back this oak from Charente-Maritime, where the species was already established.

Rare north of the Mediterranean, cork oaks thrive in Noirmoutier’s mild climate. The island is also home to one of the northernmost holm oak forests, while mimosas, imported from Australia at the end of the 19th century, have since become a local emblem.