Maximilien Bourgeois (1839-1901) Bronze Woman With Lyre

Important 19th century bronze sculpture with medal patina signed BOURGEOIS (Maximilien Louis BOURGEOIS 1839-1901) the statue rests on a rotating base bearing a period patent mark (see photo). Dimensions 75 cm high X 28 cm wide. Allegorical composition of music representing an elegant young woman with a lyre dressed in a drape sketching a slow and sensual movement to contain her nudity, she holds the musical instrument in her left hand while her right hand is freed to hold the fabric above her chest. This learned and seductive work demonstrates that the sculptor arranged symbolic elements (the lyre, the wind...) and attitudes (suave and irresistible attractions...) in this construction, the lyre refers to Apollo the musician god par excellence, the wind to Zephyr, the messenger of the Gods, intermediary between the heavens and men. Music therefore brings pleasure to gods and men, moreover, it creates a link between humans and the Gods, which is confirmed by the position of the young woman between heaven and earth. This power of music goes beyond the human condition and through it, it can allow men to surpass their condition.


Maximilien Louis Bourgeois is a sculptor trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris under the direction of François Jouffroy (1806-1882) before becoming the student of the sculptor Émile Thomas (1817-1882). He made his first artistic creations with a goldsmith modeler, then in his own workshop located at 103 rue de Sèvres in Paris. Bourgeois models busts, statues, medallions and medals of senators and deputies, those of the centenary of the Republic and of the École Polytechnique. He will create the famous stone sculpture of Eustache Le Sueur adorning the facade of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. Exhibited every year since 1863 at the Salon des Artistes français. Known works: Monument to General Beaurepaire (1888) Angers, Verdun Bridge. The monumental fountain in La Chaux de Fonds around 1888. The Snake Charmer 1862 or 1864 Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Allegory of Ceramics Museum of Nantes 1899. Mercury marble sculpture at the Museums of Fine Arts in Bordeaux.