Francisque Joseph Duret

Francisque Duret; portrait by
Pierre Auguste Cot

Francisque Joseph Duret (French pronunciation: ​[fʁɑ̃sisk ʒɔzɛf dyʁɛ]) (19 October 1804 – 26 May 1865) was a French sculptor, son and pupil of François-Joseph Duret (1732–1816).

Life and career

He also studied under Bosio, and won the Prix de Rome in 1823. In 1833 he exhibited his Neapolitan Fisher Dancing the Tarantella, now in the Louvre, a spirited statue in bronze, which established his reputation. In the same class is his Neapolitan Improvisatore (1839, Leipzig Museum). His works executed for public buildings include: France Protecting her Children (1855), a group in the grand style for the Louvre; two bronze caryatids for the tomb of Napoleon in the Invalides; a colossal Christ in the church of the Madeleine; the statues of Comedy and Tragedy for the Théâtre Français; marble statues of Dunois, Philippe of France, Chateaubriand, and Richelieu at Versailles; and the group for the Fontaine Saint-Michel, representing that saint wrestling with Satan.

One of his works, Grape-picker Extemporizing, made in 1839, shows a man playing a mandolin. The sculpture shows the instrument in the period when its popularity had declined outside of Italy.[1] The instrument had left the concert halls, becoming a folk instrument.[1]

He received the medal of honor in 1855, was an Officer in the Legion of Honor, and was made a member of the Institut de France in 1845. As professor in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he was more influential through his teaching than through his works. Among his students was Louis-Léon Cugnot.

References

  1. 1 2 Sparks 2003, p. 1, 9–10, 14–15
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "article name needed". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  • Sparks, Paul (2003). The Classical Mandolin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195173376.
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