Pierre II Biard also called Pierre Biard the younger (1592 – May 28, 1661),was a French sculptor and architect of the seventeenth century, part of a lineage of prominent sculptors.

Biography

Son of the sculptor Pierre Biard l'Aîné (Pierre I Biard), Pierre II Biard first studied in his father's studio. Sculptor to the king in 1609, he became valet to the king from 1619 to 1633. He was the brother of Barbe Biard, wife of Sébastien Bruant, he is thus allied to the Bruant family of architects, and in particular was the uncle of the architect Jacques Bruant (1624-1664) and his brother

Libéral Bruant Libéral Bruant (''ca'' 1635 – Paris, 22 November 1697), was a French architect best known as the designer of the Hôtel des Invalides, Paris, which is now dominated by the dome erected by Jules Hardouin Mansart, his collaborator in earlier st ...

(1635-1697). Biard was a favorite sculptor of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

and

Marie de Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

. Few examples of his art have survived. Biard is credited with the praying figure of Nicolas Le Jay, Keeper of the Seals, for his tomb installed in the convent of the Minimes in Place Royale. Only the bust of the deceased remains today, in the Louvre. He is also credited with the equestrian statue of Louis XIII (on a bronze horse by Daniele da Volterra), erected on the Place Royale (now Place des Vosges) in 1639, now destroyed. Biard was also the author of the tomb of Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême. The funerary effigy is now kept in the Historical Library of the City of Paris. In 1642, Rachel de Cochefilet, widow of the Minister Sully, commissioned a large full-length statue of her husband, placed in the Château de Villebon until 1793. The work is now kept at the castle of Sully-sur-Loire.

List of works

* North chimney of the great hall of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, 1613, destroyed * ''The Seine'' and ''The Rhône'', around 1624 – 163], crowning the

Medici Fountain The Medici Fountain (french: la fontaine Médicis) is a monumental fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement in Paris. It was built in about 1630 by Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France and regen ...

, 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' ...

(Paris ) * Bust of ''Nicolas Le Jay, Keeper of the Seals'', after 1636, marble, Paris, Louvre Museum * Equestrian monument of Louis XIII on the Place Royale, 1634 – 1639, destroyed * ''Amphitrite on a shell'', bronze statue for the grounds of the Château de Bagnolet, 1633(destroyed, known from a reproduction drawn by Pierre Brébiette * Statue at the foot of ''Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully'', 1639, Sully-sur-Loire, castle museum * ''Madonna and Child'' for the Church of Mercy in Paris, 1655, lost * Tomb of Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, 1659, Paris, Hôtel de Lamoignon, Historical Library of the City of Paris Several engravings made during his stay in Rome are known today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biard, Pierre 02 1592 births 1661 deaths 17th-century French sculptors