19th Century Bronze Esmeralda after Édouard Houssin, 1847-1919

Brown patina bronze sculpture depicting Mercury (Hermes), god of commerce, thieves and messenger of the gods, seated on a rock tying his winged heel-piece. He is wearing a petasus, a winged hat, and his caduceus is resting on the ground. This sculpture, based on a model by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, shows a young god, naked and in motion. In a double-swivel position, he prepares to take off. The bronze, resting on a circular stepped base in griotte red marble, is signed on the terrace "Pigalle, 1745". The original of this sculpture was Pigalle's reception piece for the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture on July 30, 1744, which entered the Louvre between 1848 and 1850. Jean-Baptiste Pigalle: The sculptor of the Enlightenment A great French sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle was born in Paris in 1714. He worked on his art from an early age under the guidance of Robert Le Lorrain and later Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. Convinced that his art was the meaning of his life, he returned to Italy in 1734 to perfect his technique. On his return, he began his "Mercure attachant sa talonnière" (1740), which enabled him to enter the Beaux-Arts. His reputation soared among the Parisian aristocracy. Mme de Pompadour took him under her wing, and commissions poured in. Juggling between the Baroque and the Classical, he painted portraits of Diderot and Voltaire, then created the famous funeral monuments...

This statue featuring a Bacchante is crafted of patinated bronze. In Roman mythology, Bacchae, or Bacchantes, were the female followers of Bacchus. They were often depicted in the co...

Bronze bust with a medal patina representing a young man with a childish look and butterfly wings. He is wearing a drape held by a knot on his chest. His bodice is decorated with a r...

Very large bronze sculpture with brown patina, based on the group "The Rape of the Sabine Women" by John of Bologna (Giambologna). This pivoting composition shows three figures in motion: a man on the ground defeated with his shield turned upside down, a second one arched clutching a woman launched towards the sky trying to escape, all on a naturalistic base. The Sabine man, the Roman and the Sabine woman are all depicted naked. This staging plays on serpentine lines known as "figura serpentinata" and diagonals giving a beautiful variety of volumes and a multiplicity of angles of view. The bronze is signed F. De Luca...