Important White Marble Sculpture - The Childhood Of Bacchus

DUCAJU Joseph "The Childhood of Bacchus" Important white marble sculpture representing Bacchus carrying in his hand a nest with baby birds and giving the beak with the other hand. Signature of J. DUCAJU dated 1854 Dimensions: 74 x 23 x 23cm History: Joseph Ducaju, painter and sculptor-statuary, first studied at the Academy of Antwerp from 1842 to 1847 and in the studio of Joseph Geefs. He devoted himself to statuary and historical genre painting and was one of the artists mobilized to create the statues of national glories through which the young Belgian state wanted to assert its identity, such as those of Boduognat or Teniers. He also made busts of members of the royal family. The bourgeoisie particularly appreciated his statues with their somewhat mannered romanticism. His colossal statue of "Themis helmeted" (1880) weighing 25 tons and surmounting the pediment of the Brussels courthouse. Ducaju received the Prix de Rome in 1846. Related works: - Statue of Boduognat (stone), disappeared, Antwerp - Statue of Baron Leys (bronze), Antwerp - Statue of David Teniers II the Younger (bronze), Antwerp - Statue of Gabriel Mudeus (stone), Brecht - Statue of Leopold II (stone), Markt, Antwerp. - helmeted statue of Themis (1880), pediment, courthouse, Brussels Marble group, signature and date J.DUCAJU 1884 "Babylon the Great". Preserved at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. (See illustration - Photo Attached)