Étienne Le Hongre (7 May 1628 – 28 April 1690) was a French sculptor, part of the team that worked for the ''

Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, "King's Buildings") was a division of the Maison du Roi ("King's Household") in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtiments ...

'' at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. Le Hongre was one of the first generation of sculptors formed by the precepts of the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

. At the Bain des Nymphes (1678–80) he was one of the sculptors providing lead

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s for the fountain setting that featured the work of

François Girardon François Girardon (10 March 1628 – 1 September 1715) was a French sculptor of the Louis XIV style or French Baroque, best known for his statues and busts of Louis XIV and for his statuary in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Biography ...

. Le Hongre provided other bronze figures for the ''Parterre d'Eau'' (''illustration, right'').

Early life

Le Hongre was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the son of a ''menuisier'', a carver of furniture and ''

boiseries Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

''. He trained in the atelier of Jacques Sarrazin along with Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy and

Pierre Le Gros the Elder Pierre Le Gros the Elder (baptised 27 May 1629 Chartres – died 11 May 1714 Paris)Gerhard Bissell, ''Le Gros, Pierre (1629)'', in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 83, de Gruyter, Berlin 2014, . was a French sculptor in the service of King ...

, all of whom later worked at Versailles. He was accepted (''agréé'') at the Académie in June 1653 and went to Rome, provided by the king with a purse of 500 ''livres''; he returned to Paris in 1659. He was accepted as a member of the Académie in April 1667 and taught in the Academy schools as an assistant professor (1670), full professor (1676) and assistant rector (1686), which afforded him the lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre where he died.

Career

Etienne Le Hongre provided decorative architectural sculpture throughout his career: at the

Palais du Louvre The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the ...

he was paid 180 ''livres'' in 1663, executed pediment trophies on the exterior of the Galerie d'Apollon facing the Seine, 1667, sculpted friezes and masques (working with

Jean-Baptiste Tuby Jean-Baptiste Tuby (also known as ''Le Romain'' - born in Rome in 1635, died in Paris 9 August 1700) was a French sculptor of Italian origins, best known for the sculpture in the fountains of the Gardens of Versailles. His work expresses the exub ...

) for the facade now facing the

rue de Rivoli Rue de Rivoli (; English: "Rivoli Street") is a street in central Paris, France. It is a commercial street whose shops include leading fashionable brands. It bears the name of Napoleon's early victory against the Austrian army, at the Battle of Ri ...

, 1668, and provided capitals and sculpted detail for the

Louvre Colonnade The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French Architectural Classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated by ...

, 1668–70, for which he received in total 2910 ''livres''. As he showed his skill he was commissioned to sculpt a large figure of ''Peace'' for the garden front of the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

, 1666. At Versailles, full-size sculptures were delivered by Le Hongre among many for the ''Grand cour'': ''Thetis'', ''Plenty'', ''Authority'' and ''Africa''. He also worked at the

Samaritaine La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: a samaʁitɛn is a large department store in Paris, France, located in the first arrondissement. The nearest métro station is Pont-Neuf, directly in front at the quai du Louvre and the rue de la Monnai ...

building at the

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

and at the

Château de Choisy The Château de Choisy was a royal French residence in the commune of Choisy-le-Roi in the Val-de-Marne department, not far from Paris. The commune was given its present name by Louis XV, when he purchased the manor of Choisy and its château in Oc ...

. He provided stucco figures and reliefs for the Chapel at the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...

. Working under the direction of the architect François d'Orbay, he provided bas-reliefs in stucco and carved doors for the church of the

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris. Garden sculptures for the royal châteaux also occupied him and his assistants through his career. He provided a ''March'' and a ''September'' for a series of Months at Fontainebleau (1669), a pair of vases for the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his ''maîtresse-en ...

(1671). For the facade facing the ''

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very large ...

'' at Versailles he provided appropriate statues of ''Zephyr'', ''Flora'' ''Vertumnus'' and ''Pomona'', medallions of ''Vertumnus'' and ''Pomona'', and five bas-reliefs of putti engaged in gardening chores (1671). He provided sculptures representing motifs from

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

for the small fountains in the

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

(1672–73) and much similar work. His sculptures for the funerary monument to the heart of Louis de Cossé, duc de Brissac (died 1661), for the Orléans chapel in the church of the Celestins, dismantled at the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, are conserved at the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

; they consist of a column and two mourning figures. None of his funerary monuments survive ''in situ''. Nor do his eight suns in glory of gilded lead for the belltower of the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Co ...

, removed at the Revolution. In 1670-74 Le Hongre provided sculptural decorations for the great doors and the high altar in the chapel of the

Collège des Quatre-Nations The Collège des Quatre-Nations ("College of the Four Nations"), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It was founded through a bequest by the Cardinal Mazarin. At his d ...

, Paris, and was one of

Antoine Coysevox Charles Antoine Coysevox ( or ; 29 September 164010 October 1720), was a French sculptor in the Baroque and Louis XIV style, best known for his sculpture decorating the gardens and Palace of Versailles and his portrait busts. Biography Coysevo ...

's collaborators on the funerary monument of

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

which was still in process of completion at Le Hongre's death. His last major commission, an

equestrian sculpture An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

intended for the Place Royale at

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

was unfinished at his death. The founders, Roger Schabol and François Aubry, both sculptors in their own right, eventually had to sue Le Hongre's heirs for compensatio

Contemporaneous bronze reductions of the monument exist. He died in his apartments in the Galeries du Louvre and was buried in the church of St Germain l'Auxerrois. His portrait by André Bouys is conserved in the Musée National du château de Versailles.

Surviving sculptures

*''Mary Magdalene'', oval bas-relief medallion, marble, 1667 (L) This was his ''morceau de reception'' for the Académie. Formerly decorating the staircase in the Académie's quarters in the Louvre, it was moved to the church of Notre-Dame at Versailles in 1815 (Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul). *Architectural sculpture for the

, 1663, 1667-70 (L) *Funerary monument for Louis de Cossé, duc de Brissac, Orléans (

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

) *Kneeling figure for the funerary monument of Louis Potier, marquis de GesvresDied in 1643, at the siege of Thionville (Lami 1903). (L) (

Musée de Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

) *''Two Loves and a Nymph'', bronze, 1670 (model), 1688 (cast) (L) (

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles (french: Jardins du château de Versailles ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover som ...

) *Two ''Tritons'' and two ''Sirens'', lead, 1669-71 (L) (North Parterre,

) *''Rivers and Putti'' for the Parterre d'Eau,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LeHongre, Etienne 17th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 1628 births 1690 deaths