Le Passe-Muraille is the bronze statue of a man walking out of a stone wall on Place Marcel-Aymé, a small square on the slopes of Montmartre. It shows Dutilleul, the hero of Marcel Aymé's short story about a clerk who could walk through walls, caught at the moment his gift deserts him. The sculptor was the actor Jean Marais, a friend of the writer.
Le Passe-Muraille at a glance
- Where: Place Marcel-Aymé, where rue Norvins meets rue Girardon, in the 18th arrondissement, a short walk west of Place du Tertre.
- Created: 1989, more than 20 years after Marcel Aymé's death in 1967.
- By: Jean Marais, the film star of Jean Cocteau's 'Beauty and the Beast', who was also a painter and sculptor.
- What it is today: a public sculpture set into the wall of the square, free to see at any time and one of the most photographed spots on the hill.
- Time needed: 5–10 minutes, plus a queue for photos at busy times.
From a 1940s short story to a bronze in the wall
Marcel Aymé moved to Paris in 1923 and lived in Montmartre from the early 1930s until his death. 'Le Passe-muraille' was first published in 1941 and became the title story of a collection in 1943. It begins at 75 bis rue d'Orchampt, a real Montmartre street, where a mild clerk named Dutilleul, with pince-nez and a little black goatee, discovers in his early forties that he can pass through walls. He uses the gift first to drive a bullying boss mad, then turns gentleman burglar under the name Garou-Garou. In the end he falls in love, takes by mistake some pills a doctor had once prescribed him, and loses his power halfway through a wall on rue Norvins, where he stays forever. A 1951 film version, 'Garou-Garou, le passe-muraille', starred Bourvil.
From 1963 Aymé spent his last years in a flat at 26 rue Norvins, the building on the corner of this square, now numbered 2 Place Marcel-Aymé. The square now bears his name, and in 1989 Jean Marais placed the bronze Dutilleul in the wall, a few steps from the writer's last home. Marais gave the figure features that resemble Aymé's own, so the man stuck in the wall is both the character and his author.
What to look for
- The half-body: the figure is only partly out of the stone, with the head, shoulders, an outstretched hand and a leg emerging from the wall.
- The face: the long, thin face is generally said to resemble Marcel Aymé himself.
- The shiny hand: the outstretched hand is polished golden by visitors who shake it or pretend to pull the man out.
- The pose: one leg forward, as if he had been stopped in mid-stride, exactly as the story ends.
- The wall itself: the figure is set into an ordinary stone retaining wall, which makes it easy to walk past without noticing.
Gen Paul's guitar
The story ends with a touching detail. On cold winter nights, Aymé writes, Dutilleul's friend the painter Gen Paul comes to rue Norvins with his guitar to comfort the prisoner, and late-night passers-by hear a muffled voice answering from inside the stone. Gen Paul was a real Montmartre painter and a friend of Aymé, so the hill's artists live on in the story too. Touching or shaking the bronze hand is a newer habit: some say it brings luck or grants a wish, but that is a visitor tradition, not part of the story.
Tips for your visit
- Come early in the morning or in the evening: in the middle of the day, groups often wait in line for a photo with the statue.
- For a photo, step back across the little square so you get the whole wall and the corner building where Aymé lived.
- Read the story before you come: it is short, funny and available in many languages, and it makes the statue much more fun.
- Mind the traffic: rue Norvins is narrow and cars and small tourist trains do pass.
Nearby
- Place Dalida: the little square with the bronze bust of the singer Dalida, just down rue Girardon.
- La Maison Rose: the pink corner café painted by Maurice Utrillo, a short walk along rue de l'Abreuvoir from Place Dalida.
- Musée de Montmartre: the museum in Montmartre's oldest house on rue Cortot, with Renoir's former garden, a few minutes' walk away.
- Place du Tertre: the old village square full of painters' easels, a few minutes' walk east along rue Norvins.
See Montmartre with World City Trail
Our Montmartre scavenger hunt turns the streets of the hill into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 22 minutes of walking. The Passe-Muraille statue is one of the stops, along with the Wall of Love, the Bateau-Lavoir and Place du Tertre.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Montmartre.
Play the Montmartre scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Montmartre →
Play the outdoor escape game in Montmartre →
Facts checked in October 2026.