Group Of Two Loves Signed Pigalle XIXth

Terracotta group signed Pigalle, depicting two loves in conversation, in very good condition. Height 22 cm, length 17 cm, width 11.5 cm. French sculptor (born in Paris on January 26, 1714, died in Paris on August 21, 1785), son of a master carpenter, Jean Baptiste Pigalle was destined to become a stonemason, with Mercury tying his heels. Pigalle Jean Baptiste. Mercury fastening his heels. Louvre Museum. 1748. As he excelled in stone cutting, he entered the studio of Robert Le Lorrain at the age of eight. Subsequently, he follows the teaching of Jean Baptiste Lemoyne but does not manage to enter the School of Fine Arts. Not discouraged by this failure, in 1736, he decided to settle in Rome, at his own expense, to improve his skills. Unable to live with his limited means, his health deteriorated and it was only thanks to the support of Guillaume II Coustou, then a resident at the Académie de France, that he could continue his stay in Rome. Between 1736 and 1739, he performed the Joueuse d'osselets. In 1739, back in France, he moved to Lyon and produced several figures for religious buildings. He was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1741 and became an academician in 1744, with a marble statuette, Mercury fastening his heels. He began at the Salon in 1742 (Mercury attaching his heels and Venus) and participated until 1753. With the support of the Count d'Argenson, minister of Louis XV, he obtained orders for the church of Saint-Louis du Louvre (Three children), the convent of the Madeleine de Fraisnel (Christ on the cross) the chapel of the Found Children (Sick Children). At the request of Louis XV, Pigalle executed a life-size version in marble, of Venus and Mercury attaching his heels, works offered to Frederick II of Prussia, in 1750. From 1750 to 1758, he worked for Madame de Pompadour: bust of Madame de Pompadour; Portrait of the king; Friendship in the guise of Madame de Pompadour; Love and Friendship; Portrait of M. d'Isle. Pigalle intervenes for works of a religious nature: Saint Maur ascending to heaven (Church of Saint Germain des Près), the Virgin and child Jesus (Church of Saint-Sulpice), the tombs of Claude-Henry d'Harcourt (Notre Dame de Paris), Louis Guillaume de Bade, Abbé Louis Gougenot, Jean Pâris Montmartel. He executed several statues of Louis XV and worked under the direction of Edme Bouchardon for the decoration of the pedestal of the Equestrian Statue of Louis XV, erected in Reims in 1763. Pigalle is the author of the monumental mausoleum of Marshal de Saxe, a work that ' he performed from 1753 to 1770 (still visible in the Saint-Thomas church in Strasbourg). We also owe him the famous statue of Voltaire naked (emaciated body of an old man), which was installed in the library of the Institut de France, before being transferred to the Louvre in 1962. Another famous work is the Child with a cage (Louvre Museum) which Pigalle completed with its counterpart, the Girl with a Bird and an Apple (Louvre Museum). The king awarded him the cordon of Saint-Michel in 1769. He was appointed assistant professor in 1745, professor in 1752, assistant rector in 1770, rector in 1777 and chancellor in 1785. Some works: - Mercure reattaching his heel pads ( lead, Louvre Museum, Paris, 1741), - Virgin and Child (marble, Saint-Eustache Church, Paris 1748), - Child with a cage (Louvre Museum, Paris, Salon of 1750), - Madame de Pompadour en Amitié (marble, Louvre Museum, Paris, 1753), - Love embracing Friendship (Louvre Museum, Paris, 1758), - Virgin and Child (marble, Saint-Sulpice church, Paris, 1774) - Voltaire nude (marble, Louvre Museum, Paris, 1776), - The Mausoleum of Marshal of Saxony (Protestant church of Saint-Thomas, Strasbourg, 1776), - Bust of Diderot (bronze, 1777), - Georges-Martin Guérin (bronze bust, Louvre Museum, Paris, around 1770-1780), - Girl with bird and apple (marble, Louvre Museum, Paris, 1784). Bibliography: The life and works of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, sculptor: Prosper Tarbé (1859), Nabu Press (reprint 2010) Jean-Baptiste Pigalle - Sculptures from the Louvre Museum: Jean-René Gaborit, Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Paris ( 1985) Voltaire nude - Jean Baptiste Pigalle: Guilhem Scherf, Somogy Editions d'art (2010)