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Nicolas Coustou
Nicolas Coustou (born January 9, 1658,Lyon, France—died 1733, Paris) was a French sculptor whose style was based upon the academic grand manner of the sculptors who decorated thePalace of Versailles, though with some of the freedom of the Rococo manner. He worked in a variety of mediums and produced many works, some in collaboration with his brother,Guillaume.
Coustou was trained by his father, François, and at the age of nineteen was sent toParis to work in the studio of his uncleAntoine Coysevox. Coustou received a first prize insculpture in 1682 with his bas-reliefCain Building the Town of Enoch and the next year went toRome, where his works includeBorghese Gladiator and a marble copy of a statue of the emperor Commodus in theguise of Hercules. In 1686 he returned toFrance and a year later settled in Paris. In 1688 he won a position at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with an allegorical bas-relief in honor of Louis XIV; he was promoted to adjunct professor (1695), to professor (1702), to rector (1720), and, finally, to chancellor of the academy (1733).
- Died:
- 1733,Paris (aged 74)
During this period Coustou often received official commissions, which he sometimes carried out with his brother Guillaume. Some of Nicolas’ most notable works were a sculpture for theSt. Ambrose chapel of the Church of the Invalides, Paris (1692); four groups of Prophets in theSt. Jerome chapel, Paris (1692); and a figure entitledFrance for the cornice of the Chambre du Roi at Versailles (1701). Coustou also contributed a number of sculptured pieces for the park of the Château de Marly not far from Versailles, includingDiane and Endymion (1701),Adonis Rests from the Chase (1710),The Nymphes, andJulius Caesar (1696–1713). In 1713 he wascommissioned to execute a large statue ofSt. Denis for the transept of theCathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris. Coustou also provided a number of decorations for great houses in Paris and Lyons. Among his last works were a large marble bas-relief of thePassage of the Rhine (1715–18) and a commission completed in 1725 for theDescent from the Cross, in Notre-Dame, which completed a group collectively known asThe Vow of Louis XIII. Coustou also executed a number of busts and funeral monuments.
