Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a French
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
,
medalist and active
freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
[Initiated in ""Le Père de famille"" Lodge in Angers] He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away f ...
in 1809 as a way of both expressing his patrimony and distinguishing himself from the master painter.
Biography
He was born in
Angers in 1788. His father was a
wood carver and ornamental sculptor, who had joined the volunteer Republican army as a
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually di ...
eer, fighting against the
Chouans
Chouan ("the silent one", or "owl") is a French nickname. It was used as a nom de guerre by the Chouan family, Chouan brothers, most notably Jean Cottereau, better known as Jean Chouan, who led a major revolt in Bas-Maine against the French Rev ...
of
La Vendée. He studied in the studio of Jean-Jacques Delusse and in 1808 traveled to Paris to study in the studio of
Philippe-Laurent Roland.
While in Paris he did work both on the Arc de Triomphe and the exterior of the Louvre. In 1810 he succeeded in taking the second place prize at the
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
for his
Othryades. In 1811 David's ''La Douleur'' won the École's competition for ''tête d'expression'' followed by his taking of the
Prix de Rome for his ''Epaminondas'' in the same year. He spent five years in Rome, during which time he frequented the studio of
Antonio Canova
Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cla ...
and made small trips around Italy to Venice, Naples and Florence.
Returning from Rome around the time of the
restoration of the Bourbons and their accompanying foreign conquerors and returned royalists, David d'Angers would not remain in the neighborhood of the
Tuileries, opting instead to travel to London. Here
John Flaxman
John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...
and others took him to task for the political sins of David the painter, to whom he was erroneously supposed to be related.
With great difficulty he made his way to Paris again, where a comparatively prosperous career opened before him. His medallions and busts were in much request, as well as orders for monumental works. One of the most famous of these was that of ''Gutenberg at Strassburg''; but those he himself valued most were the statue of ''Barra'' (
Joseph Bara
François Joseph Bara, also written Barra (30 July 1779 in Palaiseau – 7 December 1793 in Jallais), was a young French republican Drummer boy (military), drummer boy at the time of the French Revolution, Revolution, and is known for his d ...
), a drummer boy who purportedly continued to beat his drum until the moment of death in the war in
La Vendée, and the monument to the
Greek liberator
Markos Botsaris.
David's busts and medallions were very numerous, and among his sitters may be found not only the illustrious men and women of France, but many others both of England and Germany countries which he visited professionally in 1827 and 1829. His medallions number over 500.
David's fame rests firmly on his
pedimental sculpture
Pedimental sculpture is a form of architectural sculpture designed for installation in the tympanum, the space enclosed by the architectural element called the pediment. Originally a feature of Ancient Greek architecture, pedimental sculpture ...
for the
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
, his marble ''Wounded Philopoemen'' in the
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 ...
and his equestrian monument to General
Jacques-Nicolas Gobert in
Père Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to that of Gobert, he did sculptures for seven other tombs at Père Lachaise, including the bronze busts of writer
Honoré de Balzac and physician
Samuel Hahnemann.
In the ''Musée David'' in Angers is an almost complete collection of his works either in the form of copies or in the original moulds. As an example of his benevolence of character may be mentioned his rushing off to the sickbed of
Rouget de Lisle, the author of the ''Marseillaise Hymn'', modelling and carving him in marble without delay, making a lottery of the work, and sending to the poet in the extremity of need the proceeds.
Of ''Reviving Greece'', his monument to the Greek liberator
Markos Botsaris, showing a Greek child reading his name,
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
said, "It is difficult to see anything more beautiful in the world; this statue joins the grandeur of
Pheidias
Phidias or Pheidias (; grc, Φειδίας, ''Pheidias''; 480 – 430 BC) was a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the st ...
to the expressive manner of
Puget."
Museums
* David d'Angers gallery, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Angers
* Musée Carnavalet, Paris
*
Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris
Selected works
Image:The Greek child of David d'Angers reads the name of Botzaris.jpg, ''Reviving Greece'', his monument to the Greek liberator Markos Botsaris
Image:ArmandDeBricqueville.jpg, Bust of Armand de Bricqueville, Cherbourg-Octeville
Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
Image:Janbart.jpg, Statue of Jean Bart in Dunkerque
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France.
Image:Père-Lachaise - Division 48 - Balzac 07.jpg, Bust of Honoré de Balzac, cimetière du Père-Lachaise
Image:Cuvier David d'Angers Louvre RF3957.jpg, Bust of Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in na ...
, musée du Louvre
Image:Balzac by P J David d Angers 1843.jpg, Portrait of Honoré de Balzac
Image:David_de_Pury_Neuchatel.jpg, Statue of David de Pury
David de Pury, Baron de Pury (19 January 1709 – 31 May 1786) was a banker, merchant, and philanthropist from the Principality of Neuchâtel, then a Prussian principality and now part of Switzerland. His involvement in Triangular trade, particu ...
Image:Xavier Bichat par David D'Anger.jpg, Statue de Xavier Bichat, Paris Descartes University
Image:Gutenberg (Paris - 15 eme).jpg, Statue of Gutenberg, Imprimerie nationale, Paris
Image:PL David d'Angers.jpg, Tomb of David d'Angers - Père Lachaise Cemetery
Image:Angers - Abbaye Toussaint (1).jpg, The Musée David d'Angers, in the former Toussaint Abbey, Angers
Image:David d'Angers - George Washington.jpg, ''George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
'' (1828)
Image:David d'Angers - La Fayette bust.jpg, ''Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...
'' (1828)
Image:David d'Angers - Chateaubriand.jpg, '' François-René de Chateaubriand'' (1829)
Image:David d'Angers - Goethe.jpg, ''Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
'' (1829)
Image:David d'Angers - Victor Hugo 1.jpg, ''Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
'' (1837)
Image:David d'Angers - Canaris.jpg, '' Konstantinos Kanaris'' (1852)
Notes
References
;Attribution
*
See also
*
Pierre-Jean David d'Angers (French Wikipedia)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Pierre-Jean
1788 births
1856 deaths
People from Angers
Politicians from Pays de la Loire
French republicans
Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly
19th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
French Freemasons
Prix de Rome for sculpture
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Artists of the Boston Public Library
19th-century French male artists