Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clésinger (22 October 1814 – 5 January 1883) was a 19th-century French sculptor and painter.

Life

Auguste Clésinger was born in

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

, in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.department of France. His father, Georges-Philippe, was a sculptor and trained Auguste in art. Auguste first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1843 with a bust of vicomte Jules de Valdahon and last exhibited there in 1864. At the 1847 Salon, he created a sensation with his '' Woman Bitten by a Serpent'', produced from life-casts from his model

Apollonie Sabatier Apollonie Sabatier (born Aglaé Joséphine Savatier; 8 April 1822 – 3 January 1890) was a French entertainer, artist's model and courtesan, who became a salon hostess and bohemian muse to many of the French artists of 1850s Paris. Biography Agl ...

(the pose being particularly suitable for such a method), thus reinforcing the scandal with an erotic dimension. Appolonie Sabatier was a salonnière and the mistress of

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...

and others. The sculpture's beauty was praised by

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

: Clésinger also portrayed Sabatier as herself, in an 1847 marble sculpture now in the Musée d'Orsay. He produced busts of

Rachel Félix Elisabeth Félix (21 February 1821 – 3 January 1858), better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel or simply Rachel, was a French actress. She became a prominent figure in French society, and was the mistress of, among others, Napoleon III, Pri ...

and of Théophile Gautier, and a statue of

Louise of Savoy Louise of Savoy (11 September 1476 – 22 September 1531) was a French noble and regent, Duchess ''suo jure'' of Auvergne and Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours, and the mother of King Francis I. She was politically active and served as the regent of F ...

(now in the

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...

). He received the knight's cross of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1849 and rose to an officer of the order in 1864. In 1847, he married

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

's daughter,

Solange Dudevant Solange Dudevant (13 September 1828 – 17 March 1899) was a French writer and novelist and the daughter of George Sand. Biography Solange Dudevant was born to author George Sand at Nohant on 13 September 1828. She was Sand's second child. Alth ...

. In 1849, the couple had a daughter, Jeanne, nicknamed Nini, who died in 1855 shortly after her parents' separation. At the death of the composer-pianist Frédéric Chopin on 17 October 1849, Clésinger made Chopin's death mask and a cast of his hands. He also sculpted, in 1850, the white marble funerary monument of '' Euterpe'', the muse of music, for Chopin's grave at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

, in Paris. Clésinger died in Paris on 5 January 1883. He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery (division 10). His heir was his model and mistress Berthe de Courrière.

Selected works

* 1847 : '' Woman Bitten by a Serpent'', marble, Musée d'Orsay * 1848 : ''Bacchante'', a variation after the ''Woman bitten by a serpent'', marble, Musée du Petit-Palais * 1847 : ''Louise of Savoy'', stone statue,

* 1857 : ''Battle of the Roman bulls'', painted plaster, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Besançon * 1857 : ''The infant Hercules strangling the serpents of Envy'', bronze, Musée d'Orsay * 1869 : ''Nereid'' groupe en marbre, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie de Besançon * 1854 : Sappho, plaster, Musée municipal de

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

* 1865 : ''Femme à la rose'', bronze, Musée d'Orsay

Biblical art

He produced life-size statues for the side chapels of the

Église de la Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

, of the Via Dolorosa, the Pietà, the Entombment, the Resurrection and ascension.

Notes and references

External links

Biographies of Auguste Clésinger
*

Musée de la Vie romantique The Musée de la Vie romantique (Museum of Romantic Life, or ''Museum of the Romantics'') stands at the foot of Montmartre hill in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, 16 rue Chaptal, Paris, France in an 1830 ''hôtel particulier'' facing two twin-stu ...

, Hôtel

Scheffer Scheffer is a German occupational surname related to German Schäfer (meaning "shepherd") or Schaffer (meaning "overseer"). Notable people with the surname include: *Aaron Scheffer (born 1975), American baseball pitcher *Ary Scheffer (1795–1858 ...

- Renan, Paris
Les amis de George Sand
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clesinger, Auguste 1814 births 1883 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Artists from Besançon Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French male artists