David Defeating Goliath, Bronze, Patinated, Barbedienne Medal, Late 19th Century

Barbedienne after Marius Jean Antonin Mercie (Toulouse 1845 – Paris 1916), David Defeating Goliath

Bronze with patina, medal
453 F. Barbedienne, foundry in Paris
Mechanical reduction by A. Collas

Antonin Mercie was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1868 for his work Theseus Defeating the Minotaur. He was a resident at the Académie de France in Rome and, in his second year, presented an original plaster model, David Defeating Goliath, now in the Musée des Augustins (inv. Ra 982). The life-size bronze cast by Thiebaut is housed at the Musée d’Orsay.

The sculptor chose to reinterpret the biblical subject by depicting David after his victory. The elegance of the serpentine pose, inherited from Mannerism, contrasts with the firmness of the facial features. The work was a great success at the 1870 Salon.

A smaller version of this model (H. 62 cm) was available for sale in Barbedienne’s catalogs starting in 1894. 

Bibliography
Florence Rionnet, Les bronzes de Barbedienne : l'oeuvre d'une dynastie de fondeurs, 2016, p. 372.