François Girardon

François Girardon (French pronunciation:

He created another fountain for Versailles, the Basin of Saturn or Winter (1672-1677), made of gilded lead, composed in a more baroque style, crowded with figures. His third major work at Versailles was the Kidnapping of Proserpine. This group of statues was located away from the center of the garden, and was designed to be seen from a single point of view. The sense of movement and twisted figures give it a Baroque appearance, but this is balanced by the classical clarity and symmetry of the composition.[4]

Girardon rose steadily in the official artistic hierarchy. He became a member of the

In 1675 he received another important commission, for the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu, located in the Chapel of the Sorbonne. It was completed in 1694. The figure of the Cardinal is shown seated on the tomb but alive, sitting up and looking toward the altar. (The tomb was originally placed in the choir of the church, but has since been moved to a separate chapel). He is accompanied by figures of two grieving women representing Religion and science. The tomb was completed in 1694, and had considerable influence on the design of later funeral sculpture.^[4] It was nearly destroyed by a mob during the French Revolution, but was protected by the archeologist Alexandre Lenoir, who received a bayonet wound in its defense. He had it moved to safety in the first museum of French monuments.^[1]

In 1699, Girardon completed another major work, a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV, which was placed in the center in the center of Place Louis le Grand (now Place Vendôme). This statue was melted down during the French Revolution and is now known only by a small bronze model made by Girardon himself, in the Louvre, He died in Paris in 1715.^[1]

Other notable work of Girardon that can still be seen include Tomb of Louvois in the Church of (St-Eustache) in Paris; the tomb of Bignon, the King's librarian, made in 1656, in (St-Nicolas du Chardonnet); and decorative sculptures in the Gallery of Apollo and the King's Bedroom in the Louvre.

The municipal museum of his birthplace of Troyes has several of his works, marble busts of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa. The Town Hall displays a medallion of Louis XIV, and the Church of Saint Remy displays a bronze crucifix he made.

Sculpture

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  Apollo being served by the nymphs, Grotto of the grove of the baths of Apollo, Palace of Versailles (1666-1675)
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  Basin of Saturn, Palace of Versailles (1672-1677)
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  Winter, Palace of Versailles
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  The kidnapping of Proserpina by Pluto (1677-1699), Palace of Versailles
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  Sculpture on the base of The Kidnapping of Proserpina by Pluto
• 
  Monument to Louis XIV in the Place Vendôme (1692), destroyed 1789-92
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  François Girardon, model of statue of Louis XIV for the Place Vendôme 1692, Louvre
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  The tomb of Cardinal Richelieu, Chapel of the Sorbonne (1675-1694)
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  Detail of the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu, Chapel of the Sorbonne, (1675-1694)
• 
  Bust of Louis XIV, Musée Saint-Loup, Troyes
• 
  Pluto Abducting Proserpine after François Girardon. Bronze. Circa 1700.

Notes and citations

Bibliography

• Geese, Uwe (2015). "Baroque sculpture". In Rolf Toman (ed.). L'art baroque architecture, sculpture, peinture (in French). Cologne: H.F. Ullmann.
  ISBN 978-3-8480-0856-8
  .
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Girardon, François" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 46.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to François Girardon.

• François Girardon in American public collections, on the French Sculpture Census website