Pierre Lepautre (4 March 1659 – 22 January 1744) was a French sculptor, a member of a prolific family of artists in many media, who were active in the 17th and 18th centuries. He was born and died 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 ...

. He won 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 ...

, for study at the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in 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 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

, where he was a ''pensionnaire from 1683 to 1701. While in Rome he sent back to France a number of sculptures demonstrating his skill, among which were the ''Faune au chevreau'' of 1685, which went to ornament the gardens at

Château de Marly The Château de Marly () was a French royal residence located in what is now Marly-le-Roi, the commune on the northern edge of the royal park. This was situated west of the palace and garden complex at Versailles. Marly-le-Roi is the town that d ...

. Lepautre returned to Paris in 1701. His ''Atalante'' (1704) was also destined for Marly. From 1705 to 1710, he was occupied with decorative

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 and sculptures for the

royal chapel of Versailles The present chapel of 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 o ...

, under the artistic supervision of

Jules Hardouin-Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Gra ...

: his are the colossal statues of ''Saint Ambrose'' and ''Saint Gregory''. A

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

in the form of a monumental gateway in the église de Saint-Eustache, Paris, illustrates the assumption of Saint Agnes. Louvre arria et paetus mr2029

His completion of the over-lifesize group of ''Arria et Pœtus'' (finished 1695) after the design begun by Jean-Baptiste Théodon proceeded too slowly and ''Énée portant son père Anchise suivi d'Ascagne'' (signed and dated 1716), after

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 ...

demonstrated his facility and fidelity as an executant. The sculpture of

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

carrying Anchises was begun in Rome, where Lepautre made numerous terracotta '' bozzetti'' for it. The sculpture gained renown for Lepautre: bronze reductions of it were made for collectors. The 19th-century classicizing sculptor

David d'Angers Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a French sculptor, medalist and active freemason.Initiated in ""Le Père de famille"" Lodge in Angers He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter ...

had one of Lepautre's designs for it, which was given by his widow to the museum in his native city.Henri Auguste Jouin,, ''Notice des peintures et sculptures du Musée d'Angers'' (Angers, 1870) "Annexe du Galerie David", no. 759, p. 238. Pierre Lepautre preferred to become a member of the modest artists'

Académie de Saint-Luc The Académie de Saint-Luc (; ) was a guild of painters and sculptors set up in Paris in 1391, and dissolved in 1776. It was created by the Provost of Paris, along the lines of the Guilds of Saint Luke in other parts of Europe. In 1648, a group ...

, for which he held a lifetime post as Rector, rather than try for the more prestigious

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 ...

Notes

References

Lepautre sculptures in the Louvre
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepautre, Pierre 1659 births 1744 deaths 17th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 18th-century French sculptors Sculptors from Paris Prix de Rome for sculpture 18th-century French male artists