Henri Michel Antoine

HENRI MICHEL ANTOINE CHAPU (Le Mée-sur-Seine, France, 1833 - Paris, 1891).
"Joan of Arc kneeling".
Patinated bronze.
Presents stamp of the Barbedienne Foundation.
Signed.
Measurements: 30 x 20,5 cm.
Bronze sculpture representing Joan of Arc, historical and mythical heroine whose figure acquired great fame during the 19th century. Henri Chapu treats the image with great naturalism and elegance, and decides not to represent the warrior woman with armor that usually identifies her, but the shepherdess who listens to the voices that ask her to help the king to liberate the French people. The first of Chapu's sculptures, made of plaster, was presented at the last salon of the Second Empire in 1870, and was transcribed into marble in 1872, acquiring great success. This fame was due not only to the quality of the piece, but also to the popularity that the figure of Joan of Arc had acquired in France, which is why Chapu's sculpture was reproduced in different sizes and materials after 1900. In the Musée d'Orsay there is a sculpture of the same theme and appearance, although of larger dimensions, than the one we present, thus becoming an important work and an emblem for the French country.
French artist of neoclassical style, Henri-Michel Chapu trained with James Pradier, Francisque Duret and Léon Cogniet at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He entered this school in 1849, and in 1851 he won the second medal of the engraving prize. This award was followed by the second prize for sculpture in 1853 and the first prize for sculpture in 1855 at the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to move to the Italian capital, where he remained until 1861. Once his training was completed, back in Paris, his work was recognized with numerous awards and honors, and he was in fact one of the "official" sculptors of the Third French Republic, as well as a member of the Academy of Fine Arts since 1880. He also enjoyed great fame among the general public, especially following his exhibition at the 1872 Salon of his marble sculpture "Joan of Arc in Domrémy". Another great popular success was his work "La Jeunesse", shown at the 1875 Salon and sculpted for Henri Regnault's monument in the courtyard of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Today, works by Chapu can be found adorning important buildings in Paris, such as the City Hall and the Garnier Opera House, as well as in the Parisian museums of Orsay and Carnavalet, the museum that bears his name in his hometown, and in various provincial museums.