First there was Carla the supermodel, then the singer, then the first lady. Now, coming soon: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy the statue.

Following in the immortalised footsteps of Joan of Arc, General de Gaulle and Marianne – the full-figured, flowing-haired female symbol of the French republic who graces Gallic public buildings – the president‘s wife is being cast as a six-foot bronze statue.

But the €80,000 effigy, partially funded by taxpayers‘ money, has caused outrage in the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, population 30,000.