Young Woman , Terracotta Signed François Lucas . 18th Century

Important, terra cotta signed Lucas and dated on the base 1786 .
Lovely seated young woman, hiding her nudity with a sheet .
Some minor restorations , toe , a crack on the left side .
Height 87 cm
Depth 32 cm
Width 30 cm

Additional photos on request.

Francois Lucas born in 1736 in Toulouse and died in 1813 .
After receiving his initial training from his father, sculptor Pierre Lucas (1692-1752), a pupil of Marc Arcis, he attended the Académie Royale de Toulouse.
In 1761, he won the Grand Prix de Sculpture and was appointed professor three years later. It was not until 1766 that he traveled to Italy, where he returned in 1773.
An advocate of a return to Antiquity, he supplied terracottas and marbles for private parks (Château de Saint-Elix), churches (Anges du maître-autel des Chartreux) and civil clients (bas-relief des Ponts-Jumeaux). Director of the Ecole des Arts under the French Revolution, he must be considered one of the founders of the Musée de Toulouse, where several of his works can be seen.
Curator of the museum in 1800, he obtained a shipment of works from Paris in exchange for Toulouse paintings destined for the Museum spécial de l'École française in Versailles.
(J.P.Suzzoni:2001;MPD;p.224-225)