Jacques-Léonard Maillet (12 July 1823 - 14 February 1894) was a French academic sculptor of modest reputation, whose themes were of neoclassical and biblical inspiration; his public commissions were in large part for the programs of decorative architectural sculpture required by the grandiose public works programs characteristic of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

, which included commemorative portraits of French culture heroes. He also provided models for goldsmith's work. Maillet was born in Paris, the son of a ''menuisier'', or carver of furniture and panelling, of the working-class district, the

Faubourg Saint-Antoine The Faubourg Saint-Antoine was one of the traditional suburbs of Paris, France. It grew up to the east of the Bastille around the abbey of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, and ran along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Location The Faubourg Saint-An ...

. His earliest training had been in a drawing school in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, before he entered the école des Beaux-Arts at the age of seventeen, 1 October 1840. There he studied with

Jean-Jacques Feuchère Jean-Jacques Feuchère (24 August 1807 – 26 July 1852) was a French sculptor. He was a student of Jean-Pierre Cortot, and among his students was Jacques-Léonard Maillet. Selected works * Relief panel ''Le Pont d'Arcole'', Arc de Triom ...

, the heir of

Pierre-Philippe Thomire Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843) a French sculptor, was the most prominent ''bronzier'', or producer of ornamental patinated and gilt-bronze objects and furniture mounts of the First French Empire. His fashionable neoclassical and Empire ...

Napoleon's official maker of ''bronzes d'ameublement'' winning a second prize in the ''

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

'', 1841. Then he studied under

James Pradier James Pradier (born Jean-Jacques Pradier, ; 23 May 1790 – 4 June 1852) was a Genevan-born French sculpture, sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassicism, neoclassical style. Life and work Born in Geneva (then Republic of Geneva), Prad ...

, where he absorbed Pradier's style, combining a neoclassical treatment with sentimental subject matter and a taste for ''

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

'', but developed a reputation for overconfident laziness. In 1847 he received the ''premier grand prix de Rome'' on the given subject, ''Telemachus bringing back to Phalantes the ashes of Hippias'' and spent four years as a pensionnaire at the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in ...

, which was the entry to every public career in sculpture in nineteenth-century France. A letter of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

records the welcome extended to him and

Maxime Du Camp Maxime Du Camp (8 February 1822 – 9 February 1894) was a French writer and photographer. Biography Born in Paris, Du Camp was the son of a successful surgeon. After finishing college, he indulged in his strong desire for travel, thanks to ...

. He was also interested in the technical aspects of art, and invented a polychroming process for mass-produced objects. In 1851, he returned to France, where he married Adrienne Désirée Vare, 31 December 1856; they had three daughters before separating; Mme Maillet raised her girls at Précy-sur-Oise. After her death, Maillet married the poet Jenny Grimault Touzin, already too ill to be moved from her domicile.The implication of the circumstances is that they were solemnising a long-standing relationship. At his death, two years later, he was buried in 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 ...

, Paris, with no monument to mark the site.

Selected works

*''Agrippina et Caligula'', Salon of 1853; his first entry in a Salon, it won a first-place medal *''Lavoisier'', for the Cour Napoléon of 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 l ...

. *''Agrippine portant les cendres de Germanicus'', Salon of 1861.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maillet, Jacques-Leonard Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Prix de Rome for sculpture 1823 births 1894 deaths 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French male artists