David d'Angers | |
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 David d'Angers in 1853, photograph byÉdouard Baldus | |
| Born | Pierre-Jean David (1788-03-12)12 March 1788 Angers, France |
| Died | 4 January 1856(1856-01-04) (aged 67) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | sculptor and medallist |
Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a Frenchsculptor,medalist and activefreemason.[1] He adopted the nameDavid d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painterJacques-Louis David in 1809 as a way of both expressing his patrimony and distinguishing himself from the master painter.
He was born inAngers in 1788. His father was awood carver and ornamental sculptor, who had joined the volunteer Republican army as amusketeer, fighting against theChouans ofLa Vendée. He studied in the studio of Jean-Jacques Delusse and in 1808 traveled to Paris to study in the studio ofPhilippe-Laurent Roland.
While in Paris he did work both on the Arc de Triomphe and the exterior of the Louvre. In 1810 he succeeded in taking the second place prize at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts for hisOthryades. In 1811 David'sLa Douleur won the École's competition fortête d'expression followed by his taking of thePrix de Rome for hisEpaminondas in the same year. He spent five years in Rome, during which time he frequented the studio ofAntonio Canova and made small trips around Italy to Venice, Naples and Florence.
Returning from Rome around the time of therestoration of the Bourbons and their accompanying foreign conquerors and returned royalists, David d'Angers would not remain in the neighborhood of theTuileries, opting instead to travel to London. HereJohn Flaxman and others took him to task for the political sins of David the painter, to whom he was erroneously supposed to be related.
With great difficulty he made his way to Paris again, where a comparatively prosperous career opened before him. His medallions and busts were in much request, as well as orders for monumental works. One of the most famous of these was that ofGutenberg at Strassburg; but those he himself valued most were the statue ofBarra (Joseph Bara), a drummer boy who purportedly continued to beat his drum until the moment of death in the war inLa Vendée, and the monument to theGreek liberatorMarkos Botsaris.
David's busts and medallions were very numerous, and among his sitters may be found not only the illustrious men and women of France, but many others both of England and Germany countries which he visited professionally in 1827 and 1829. His medallions number over 500.
In 1828, David created a bust ofGilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and presented it to theUnited States Congress viaPresident John Quincy Adams. In his letter to President Adams, David requested that the bust be placed
"...in the Hall of Congress, near the monument erected to Washington; the son by the side of the father, or, rather, that the two brothers in arms, the two companions in victory, the two men of order and of law, should not be more separated in our admiration than they were in their wishes and in their perils.
Lafayette is one of the ties that connect the two worlds. A few months since he revisited your land, consecrated by justice and equality, and you restored him to us, honored by your hospitality and your homage.
In my turn, I restore him to you; or, rather, I only restore to you his image, for he himself must remain with us, in order to recall frequently to the national councils those eternal principles on which the independence of nations reposes and the hopes of mankind are built."
The bust was accepted and displayed, but was eventually destroyed in the accidental fire that consumed much of theLibrary of Congress on December 24, 1851.
David's fame rests firmly on hispedimental sculpture for thePantheon, his marbleWounded Philopoemen in theLouvre and his equestrian monument to GeneralJacques-Nicolas Gobert inPère Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to that of Gobert, he did sculptures for seven other tombs at Père Lachaise, including the bronze busts of writerHonoré de Balzac and physicianSamuel Hahnemann.
In theMusée David in Angers is an almost complete collection of his works either in the form of copies or in the original moulds. As an example of his benevolence of character may be mentioned his rushing off to the sickbed ofRouget de Lisle, the author of theMarseillaise Hymn, modelling and carving him in marble without delay, making a lottery of the work, and sending to the poet in the extremity of need the proceeds.
OfReviving Greece, his monument to the Greek liberatorMarkos Botsaris, showing a Greek child reading his name,Victor Hugo said, "It is difficult to see anything more beautiful in the world; this statue joins the grandeur ofPheidias to the expressive manner ofPuget."
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "David, Pierre Jean".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 862.
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