511. Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), French,

Le Grand Condé (Louis II de Bourbon,

Prince of Condé, 1621-1686), 1688. Bronze,

traces of gilding, pedestal of gray veined marble,

60 x 68 x 34 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Classicism.

 

 

Charles-Antoine Coysevox

(1640 Lyon – 1720 Paris)

 

French sculptor, Charles-Antoine Coysevox came from a family of Spanish origin. His artistic talent developed early and by the time he was seventeen, he modelled his first statue, an admirable Madonna. In 1671, by special request of Louis XIV, the young sculptor executed various monuments in Versailles and Marly. He also made decorative sculptures for the royal gardens and many interior designs. In 1676, in acknowledgement of his art, he was selected a member of the Academy, a great honour for an artist. He was commissioned to make bronze statues of Louis XIV and Charlemagne, which can be admired at Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, a church in Paris. His most notable achievement is probably Fame Mounted on Pegasus, which embellishes the entrance of the Tuileries. The exquisite lines of some of the church monuments in Paris come from his hands and are among the most notable artistic achievements of the city, where he died at the age of eighty.