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 born in Nancy and died in Paris.

Life

Adam was the youngest of the three sons of the sculptor Jacob Sigisbert Adam of Nancy. His brothers Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and François Gaspard Adam were also sculptors. In 1757, Adam married Christine Lenoir, the daughter of a goldsmith in Nancy. They had two sons, the painter Jean Charles Nicolas Adam and the sculptor Gaspard Louis Adam. Nicolas Adam was blind when he died in 1778 in Paris.

Career

Adam studied first with his father, then with his elder brother Lambert, at 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 ...

(Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture). He failed to obtain 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 ...

, but did receive funding to travel to Italy. Along the way, he stopped to work on the ornamental façade of the Château de la Mosson at Juvignac, near

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, spending 18 months on the project. He finally arrived in Rome in 1726. His brother introduced him to the cardinal Melchior de Polignac, for whom he restored a number of ancient

marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. These toys can be used for a variety of games called marbles, as well being placed in marble runs or races, or created as a form of art. They are ofte ...

. Adam returned to Paris in 1734, working in his elder brother's

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

. Soon he began to receive a number of commissions. With his brother, he worked on ''Le Triomphe de Neptune et d'Amphitrite'' ("The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite," completed 1740), the large sculpture group in

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

for the Neptune fountain at the

Palace of 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 ...

. During the same period, he worked for the Rohan family at the

Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin''. It is located at 60 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. History The Hôtel de Soubise was built as an ''hôtel particulier'' for the Prin ...

, sculpting bas-reliefs for ''Amours des Dieux'' ("The Gods' Love Affairs", 1736) in the state chamber of the Princess. 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 ...

commissioned him for work at the Courts of Accounts in Paris, at the Basilica of St. Denis, and on the royal chapel at Versailles. At the abbey he created a bas-relief ''Saint Maur Seeking the Aid of the Lord for the Healing of a Child.'' The fathers at the Oratory of Paris entrusted him with the decoration of the church portal. Prometheus Adam Louvre MR1745 edit atoma

Prometheus Adam Louvre MR1745 edit atoma

His

reception piece In art, a reception piece is a work submitted by an artist to an academy for approval as part of the requirements for admission to membership. The piece is normally representative of the artist's work, and the organization's judgement of its skil ...

for the Academy in 1762 was ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

'' (French ''Prométhée enchaîné'') considered one of the masterpieces of 18th-century sculpture. His most notable work, however, is the funeral monument of the queen Catherine Opalińska, wife of Stanislas Leszczyński, at the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours church in Nancy. It depicts the deceased kneeling, with her hands joined in an

attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

of prayer. An angel takes her by the hand to guide her to Heaven. The base is of black marble. Executed with great elegance, the group is regarded as one of the most remarkable and genuinely moving funeral monuments of the 18th century. Nicolas Adam, like his brother Lambert, was influenced by the

Italian Baroque Italian Baroque (or ''Barocco'') is a stylistic period in Italian history and art that spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. History The early 17th century marked a time of change for those of the Roman Catholic religion ...

. He ranks with him as one of the most refined and subtle sculptors of his time. He was a major influence on his nephew, the sculptor Clodion.

Selected works

* ''

Nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

'' (c. 1723), bas-relief in the pediment of the great hall, and berry ornamentation on the ground floor of the Château de la Mosson, Juvignac * ''The Triumph of

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

and

Amphitrite In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; ) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and her consort is Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Under the influence ...

'' (1735 - 1740), lead sculpture for the fountain at Versailles, in collaboration with his brother Lambert Sigisbert Adam * '' Les Amours des Dieux'' ("Love Affairs of the Gods," 1736), stucco relief, Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, the chamber of the Princes
image
* '' L'Automne'' ("Autumn," 1745), marble vase, originally created for the grounds 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 ...

, now in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

* ''Religion Instructing an Indian'' (1745), marble statue group, church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, Paris * ''The Martyrdom of Saint Victoria'' (1747), bronze relief, bronze, royal chapel at Versailles * Funeral monument of the queen Catherine Opalińska (1749), marble and bronze, Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours at

Nancy, France Nancy is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, annexed by France under King Louis X ...

* A series of narrative reliefs on

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

: ''Apollo et

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

'', '' Latona and the Farmers'', ''Apollo and the

Sibyl The sibyls were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophet, prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by Pausanias (geographer), PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he desc ...

'', ''Apollo and Coronis'' (c. 1753), bas-reliefs for the Hôtel de la Bouëxière in Paris, Château de Bagatelle et

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet () in Paris is dedicated to the History of Paris, history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, ...

* ''

Angelica and Medoro Angelica and Medoro was a popular subject for Romantic painters, composers and writers from the 16th until the 19th century. Angelica and Medoro are two characters from the 16th-century Italian epic ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Angel ...

'' from ''

Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form ...

'', a marble statue group along with Apollo and Diana, originally created for the Hôtel de Choiseul in Paris, now in the Museum of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

* ''Prometheus Bound'' (1762), a marble sculpture group at the Louvre

* '' Iris Putting on Her Wings'' (1775–76), a marble statue finished by his nephew Clodion, Versailles

References

Sources

* Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre (under the direction of Jean-René Gaborit, in collaboration with Jean-Charles Agboton, Hélène Grollemund, Michèle Lafabrie, Béatrice Tupinier-Barillon), ''Musée du Louvre. département des sculptures du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes. Sculpture française II. Renaissance et temps modernes. vol. 1 Adam - Gois'', Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 1998 * Jean de Viguerie, ''Histoire et dictionnaire du temps des Lumières. 1715-1789'', Paris, Robert Laffont, coll. Bouquins, 2003 -

External links