JEAN-ALEXANDRE-JOSEPH FALGUIÈRE (FRENCH, 1831-1900)

The present work reproduces in three-dimensional form the central figure in Jean-Léon Gérôme’s (1824-1904) painting, Phryne before the Areopagus, exhibited at the Salon of 1861. Following its Salon exhibition, art dealer and fondeur Jean Goupil commissioned sculptor Alexandre Falguière (1831-1900) to reproduce Phyrne who, according to Greek mythology, was an Athenian courtesan accused of but not condemned for impiety when her counsel boldly tore away her peplos at the moment of sentencing to reveal her perfect beauty which stunned and immediately subdued her judges. In addition to bronze editions of the present size, the group was also executed in marble and ivory.