MARIUS-JEAN-ANTONIN MERCIE (FRENCH, 1845–1916)

One of the most successful French sculptors of his generation, Antonin Mercié studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at the Académie de France in Rome. As early as 1868 he was awarded the Prix de Rome which was soon to be followed by numerous outstanding achievements, such as the cross of the Légion d'honneur in 1872, the Medal of Honor at the 1874 Salon for the Gloria Victis sculpture group, and the Grand Prize at the 1878 Exposition Beaux-Arts and in 1913 he was made the president of the Sociéte des Artistes Français.
The Gloria Victis sculpture group was completed shortly following the Franco-Prussian war. Initially Mercié planned the group to consist of Fame and a victorious soldier but following France's surrender the soldier was replaced with a defeated soldier. Replicas of this classic composition were used on monuments to the dead of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 in many French towns, including Niort, Deux-Sèvres, Agen, Lot et Garonne and Bordeaux.