Pair Of Bronze Sculptures The Seated Angels Jean-baptiste Pigalle Attr. Around 1750 H. 45 Cm

pair Bronze sculptures The seated angels Jean-Baptiste Pigalle attr. around 1750 p.m. 45 cm, l. 35 cm, p. 24 cm Provenance: Private Spanish collection Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (* January 26, 1714 in Paris; † August 20, 1785 ibid.) Only specimens known so far. Not only are the two angels very close to Pigalle's children's figures on the stylistic level: the physiognomy, the sequence of movements, the posture, but also the high technical implementation in the exceptional quality known from Pigalle justify an attribution to Pigalle.Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (* January 26, 1714 in Paris; † August 20, 1785 ibid.)He was born in Paris as the seventh child of a carpenter and was one of the most popular sculptors of his time. He studied with Robert Le Lorrain then with Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. After failing to obtain first prize from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which would have allowed him to study for free in Rome, he traveled to Rome in 1735 at his own expense, where he copied ancient statues. Pigalle returned to Paris in 1741 and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with his statue of Mercury on November 4 of the same year. The marble version of the Mercury served as his reception piece on July 30, 1744 [When King Louis XV of France commissioned Pigalle for a marble version of this statue in 1746, Pigalle received his first prestigious commission. The King of France donated this version of the Mercury of Pigalle as well as a statue of Venus to Frederick II of Prussia. They were placed in the park of the Sanssouci Palace. Today there are copies, the original marble pieces are kept in the Bode-Museum in Berlin. In 1766, Pigalle depicted Voltaire naked seated on a tree stump in a sculpture. Frederick II had a copy made of this sculpture, which was placed in the vestibule of Sanssouci. Inv. n° 2,294 €4,600