Étienne Le Hongre (; 7 May 1628 – 28 April 1690) was a French sculptor, part of the team that worked for the ''

Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, 'King's Buildings') was a division of the Maison du Roi ('King's Household') in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtiments ...

'' at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. Le Hongre was one of the first generation of sculptors formed by the precepts of the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie royale de peinture et de 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 abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...

. At the Bain des Nymphes (1678–80) he was one of the sculptors providing lead

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s for the fountain setting that featured the work of

François Girardon François Girardon (; 17 March 1628 – 1 September 1715) was a French sculptor of the Louis XIV style or French Baroque, best known for his statues and busts of Louis XIV and for his statuary in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Biogra ...

. Le Hongre provided other bronze figures for the ''Parterre d'Eau'' (''illustration, right'').

Early life

Le Hongre was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the son of a ''menuisier'', a carver of furniture and '' boiseries''. He trained in the atelier of Jacques Sarrazin along with Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy and

Pierre Le Gros the Elder Pierre Le Gros the Elder (baptised 27 May 1629 Chartres – died 11 May 1714 Paris)Gerhard Bissell, ''Le Gros, Pierre (1629)'', in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 83, de Gruyter, Berlin 2014, . was a French sculptor in the service of Kin ...

, all of whom later worked at Versailles. He was accepted (''agréé'') at the Académie in June 1653 and went to Rome, provided by the king with a purse of 500 ''livres''; he returned to Paris in 1659. He was accepted as a member of the Académie in April 1667 and taught in the Academy schools as an assistant professor (1670), full professor (1676) and assistant rector (1686), which afforded him the lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre where he died.

Career

Etienne Le Hongre provided decorative architectural sculpture throughout his career: at the

Palais du Louvre The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Ger ...

he was paid 180 ''livres'' in 1663, executed pediment trophies on the exterior of the Galerie d'Apollon facing the Seine, 1667, sculpted friezes and masques (working with Jean-Baptiste Tuby) for the facade now facing the

rue de Rivoli The Rue de Rivoli (; English: "Rivoli Street") is a street in central Paris, France. It is a commercial street whose shops include leading fashionable brands. It bears the name of Napoleon's early victory against the Austrian army, at the Battle o ...

, 1668, and provided capitals and sculpted detail for the

Louvre Colonnade The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Louvre Palace in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French architectural classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated by t ...

, 1668–70, for which he received in total 2910 ''livres''. As he showed his skill he was commissioned to sculpt a large figure of ''Peace'' for the garden front of the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

, 1666. At Versailles, full-size sculptures were delivered by Le Hongre among many for the ''Grand cour'': ''Thetis'', ''Plenty'', ''Authority'' and ''Africa''. He also worked at the

Samaritaine La Samaritaine (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, a samaʁitɛn is a large department store in the First arrondissement of Paris, first arrondissement of Paris; the nearest metro station is Pont Neuf station, Pont-Neuf. Founded in 1870 b ...

building at the

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

and at the

Château de Choisy The Château de Choisy was a royal French residence in the commune of Choisy-le-Roi in the Val-de-Marne department, not far from Paris. The commune was given its present name by Louis XV, when he purchased the manor of Choisy and its château in ...

. He provided stucco figures and reliefs for the Chapel at the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

. Working under the direction of the architect

François d'Orbay François d'Orbay (; 1634–1697) was a French draughtsman and architect who worked closely with Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin Mansart. Early training and career D'Orbay was born in Paris and likely received his early training as an archite ...

, he provided bas-reliefs in stucco and carved doors for the church of the

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their religious habit, habit), is a religious order of cano ...

in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris. Garden sculptures for the royal châteaux also occupied him and his assistants through his career. He provided a ''March'' and a ''September'' for a series of Months at Fontainebleau (1669), a pair of vases for the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of Louis XIV as a retreat for himself and his ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of th ...

(1671). For the facade facing the ''

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

'' at Versailles he provided appropriate statues of ''Zephyr'', ''Flora'' ''Vertumnus'' and ''Pomona'', medallions of ''Vertumnus'' and ''Pomona'', and five bas-reliefs of putti engaged in gardening chores (1671). He provided sculptures representing motifs from

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

for the small fountains in the

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

(1672–73) and much similar work. His sculptures for the funerary monument to the heart of Louis de Cossé, duc de Brissac (died 1661), for the Orléans chapel in the church of the Celestins, dismantled at the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, are conserved at the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

; they consist of a column and two mourning figures. None of his funerary monuments survive ''in situ''. Nor do his eight suns in glory of gilded lead for the belltower of the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Construction b ...

, removed at the Revolution. In 1670-74 Le Hongre provided sculptural decorations for the great doors and the high altar in the chapel of the

Collège des Quatre-Nations The Collège des Quatre-Nations ("College of the Four Nations"), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It was founded through a bequest by the Cardinal Mazarin. At his ...

, Paris, and was one of

Antoine Coysevox Charles Antoine Coysevox ( or ; 29 September 164010 October 1720), was a French sculptor in the Baroque and Louis XIV style, best known for his sculpture decorating the gardens and Palace of Versailles and his portrait busts. Biography Coysev ...

's collaborators on the funerary monument of

Cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...

which was still in process of completion at Le Hongre's death. His last major commission, an

equestrian sculpture An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

intended for the Place Royale at

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

was unfinished at his death. The founders, Roger Schabol and François Aubry, both sculptors in their own right, eventually had to sue Le Hongre's heirs for compensatio

Contemporaneous bronze reductions of the monument exist. He died in his apartments in the Galeries du Louvre and was buried in the church of St Germain l'Auxerrois. His portrait by André Bouys is conserved in the Musée National du château de Versailles.

Surviving sculptures

*''Mary Magdalene'', oval bas-relief medallion, marble, 1667 (L) This was his ''morceau de reception'' for the Académie. Formerly decorating the staircase in the Académie's quarters in the Louvre, it was moved to the church of Notre-Dame at Versailles in 1815 (Chapel of St. Vincent de Paul). *Architectural sculpture for the

, 1663, 1667-70 (L) *Funerary monument for Louis de Cossé, duc de Brissac, Orléans (

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

) *Kneeling figure for the funerary monument of Louis Potier, marquis de GesvresDied in 1643, at the siege of Thionville (Lami 1903). (L) ( Musée de Versailles) *''Two Loves and a Nymph'', bronze, 1670 (model), 1688 (cast) (L) (

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles ( ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the Palace of Versailles, château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the Palace of Versailles, palace, the gardens cover so ...

) *Two ''Tritons'' and two ''Sirens'', lead, 1669-71 (L) (North Parterre,

) *''Rivers and Putti'' for the Parterre d'Eau,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LeHongre, Etienne 17th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 1628 births 1690 deaths