Francisque Duret (1804-1865) Large Bronze Musician 55 Cm

Large 19th century bronze sculpture with a golden brown patina signed F. Duret (Francisque Joseph DURET 1804-1865) and titled on the base 'The Improviser' depicting a Neapolitan in the style of Bacchus playing the mandolin near a barrel decorated with vine branches. Reduction in the first size of the bronze exhibited at the Salon of 1839. Good condition, dimensions: 55.5 cm high X 20 cm wide.

French sculptor, Francisque Duret (Paris, 1804-1865) claims to be a follower of classical antiquity perceived through the Florentine Renaissance. Son of the sculptor François-Joseph Duret, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1818 and won the Prix de Rome in 1823 for The Sorrow of Evander in the presence of the body of his son Pallas. From Rome, Duret sent several works: Virgil's Shepherd, Sappho Holding Back Phaon, and Mercury Inventing the Lyre, which was presented at the 1831 Salon. It was during a trip to Naples that he created one of his most famous bronzes, Young Fisherman Dancing the Tarantella, which was exhibited at the 1833 Salon (Louvre Museum). Numerous reductions have been made. The Neapolitan Dancer, presented at the 1838 Salon as a counterpart to The Young Fisherman, was also the subject of bronze editions. Several versions of the Neapolitan Dancer theme are known today: Neapolitan Dancer (Montpellier), Young Fisherman Dancing the Tarantella (Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Paris), Neapolitan Dancer with Castanets (Nîmes), and Neapolitan Dancer with a Tambourine (Nîmes).