Jean-Joseph Vinache (1696 – 1 December 1754) was a French sculptor who served as the court sculptor to Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Vinache's equestrian monument of Augustus, known as the "Gilded Horseman" (''Goldener Reiter''), is one of the most familiar sights of

Dresden, Germany Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. Vinache was born in Paris, the son of a bronzefounder. His skill brought him to the attention of an agent of the Elector, "Augustus the Strong", who called him to Dresden to complete an unfinished equestrian sculpture that had been left by the late sculptor François Coudray (1678–1727). A model in gilded plaster and a bronze reduction (Dresden,

Grünes Gewölbe The Green Vault (german: Grünes Gewölbe) is a museum located in Dresden, Germany, which contains the largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and it features a variet ...

) preserve the design of this scheme: Augustus, now

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

is shown in Roman armour, gripping the baton of power, on a rearing horse, stabilized by a massive tail. The bronze-casting was undertaken in 1733, at the cannon foundry of the Augsburg craftsman Ludwig Wiedemann (1690–1754), established at Dresden-Friedrichstadt. Construction of the high pedestal designed by architect

Zacharias Longuelune Zacharias Longuelune (1669 — 30 November 1748) was a French architect and master builder who worked in the second half of his life for the royal court in Dresden. His design style was French Baroque and Classicism. Longuelune was born in Paris ...

was initiated with a foundation stone, 12 August 1735, but construction was delayed. The completed sculpture was unveiled 26 November 1736. Retired for safety during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the sculpture survived the Dresden Firestorm unscathed and was restored and re-erected on a new plinth in 1956. Vinache executed numerous other works for Augustus and also made copies after the Antique. A bronze ''Apollo Leaning on his Lyre'' (Dresden Skulpturensammlung) was repeated in marble; a reduced

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terra ...

version is at the

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 ...

. In 1736 he returned to Paris, where he was accepted that year at 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 abo ...

, presenting as his ''morceau de reception'' ''Hercules Enchained by Love''; the final marble, delivered 27 May 1741, is at the

. A marble replica, attributed to Vinache, was sold from the Lagerfeld collection at Christie's Monaco: Friday, April 28, 2000, lot 16.Christie's Monaco: Friday, April 28, 2000, lot 16, illus.
/ref> As an Académicien, Vinache received various public commissions, for an ''Aurora'' for Versailles (1746–49) and in Paris. For the chapel of St. Francis Xavier in the Church of St-Paul-St-Louis in the

Marais district The Marais (Le Marais ; "the marsh") is a historic district in Paris, France. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arr ...

of Paris, he was commissioned to provide a sculpture illustrating religious zeal, a pendant to the sculpture of

Nicolas-Sébastien Adam Nicolas-Sébastien Adam (22 March 1705 – 27 March 1778), also called "Adam the Younger", was a French sculptor working in the Neoclassical style.David B. Morris, ''The Culture of Pain'' (University of California Press, 1991), p. 203. He was bor ...

, called "Adam le jeune", ''Religion Instructing an Indian''; the result was ''Le Zèle'', an angel whipping a fallen heathen among the debris of idolatry, holding open a large folio representing the Gospel. The sculpture was completed in 1745. A marble ''Enfants jouant avec des fleurs'' by Vinache and Nicolas-François Gillet is also conserved at the Louvre. He died in 1754.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinache, Jean-Joseph 18th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Court sculptors 1696 births 1754 deaths 18th-century French male artists