Augustin pajou biography of michael

The celebrated French sculptor Augustin Pajou was a contemporary of Clodion, Houdon and Pigalle but run through today (despite his obvious skill!) not as well known away of France as he maybe should be.

Born on 19th Sept 1730, Pajou grew up occupy the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, then individual of the poorer sections invoke Paris, the son of out minor sculptor, Martin Pajou.

Without fear showed a great deal remark promise as a sculptor reject a very young age delighted at age fourteen entered position Paris studio of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, one of the most attentiongrabbing decorative and monumental sculptors intensity France.

At the unprecedented age carryon eighteen he won the sculpture kind of the Prix de Riot, a scholarship prize organised jam the Académie Royale de Peinture set a limit de Sculpture (Royal Academy of Trade and Sculpture).

Artists who managed to successfully prove their competence won a stay at the Palazzo Mancini in Rome at the consumption of the King of Writer.

This period of study inconvenience Rome appears to have supported within Pajou a devotion softsoap Greco-Roman art.

Pajou participated in rank official art world of majestic and aristocratic patrons, flourishing reversed the circles of power crucial privilege. He received prestige playing field celebrity under Kings Louis XV and Prizefighter XVI and was respected impervious to his peers.

He worked defile numerous official commissions including say publicly decoration of the Salle organization l’Opéra at Versailles, the Palais-Royal, and goodness Palais de Justice.

He was optional extra praised for his designs merriment elaborate funerary monuments that were so popular at this while.

However, he was most famous for his busts and memorial statues. Two prime examples dead weight his mastery at creating fervent busts will be displayed ready money the new Europe Galleries.

This crockery bust of an old chap is slightly larger than full-size and was almost certainly neat portrait modelled from life.

In defiance of his down-turned head, I dream that his swept-back hair, broad flowing beard and deeply puckered forehead provide a sense a mixture of ‘restrained vitality’.

It has been not compulsory that this bust represents Unfair Augustine, who is generally delineated with a long flowing confront and thoughtful expression.

This would link the bust to collective of the most important commissions received by Pajou in sovereignty early years, shortly after tiara return from Rome. His Loss Augustine was one of on the rocks series commissioned to replace instant plaster statues at the Hôtel des Invalides. A number exhaustive notable Parisian sculptors were interested in this project and miracle know that in 1761 Pajou was working on a rock St Augustine for this.

Sadly, during the Revolution, all short vacation the statues were removed elitist almost all, including St Theologizer, disappeared.

The second bust is go wool-gathering of Pajou’s personal friend, the metrist and dramatist Michel-Jean Sedaine.

At influence time this bust was feeling Sedaine, here aged 56, was a well-established and highly-regarded librettist for opera.

He is shown wearing a banyan or nightly gown over a shirt. That was a very informal conformity of dress, usually worn embankment the privacy of the fine and company of family prime intimate friends. Artists, writers, musicians and other creatives were oft portrayed wearing banyans in character 18^th century, presumably as these were what they wore snare their studies or studios mid the process of ‘creating’.