https://enlightenment-revolution.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Falconet%2C_Etienne_Maurice 2026-04-22T11:05:09Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.39.2 https://enlightenment-revolution.org/index.php?title=Falconet,_Etienne_Maurice&diff=224&oldid=prev 2008-02-01T02:29:24Z

<p>1 revision(s)</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&#039;&#039;&#039;Falconet, Etienne Maurice&#039;&#039;&#039; (1716-1791): French Sculptor.<br /> <br /> Etienne Maurice Falconet was an internationally renowned sculptor whose works and writings shaped the post-Baroque art of his time, particularly for France and Russia. Born in Paris, Falconet studied with the master Jean Baptiste Lemoyne. His first important marble sculpture, &#039;&#039;Milo of Croton and the Lion&#039;&#039;, earned him admission to the Academy of Fine Arts. His primary patron, [[Pompadour, Marquise de]], helped him to become the director of the famous Sevres porcelain factory in 1757. His statue of the &#039;&#039;Bather&#039;&#039; (1757) was most characteristic of the Rococo style he employed for his works in the porcelain factory. The Russian empress [[Catherine II, the Great]] invited Falconet to create sculptures in Russia in 1766 upon the suggestion of [[Diderot, Denis]]. In Russia, Falconet became most famous for designing and executing the statue of the &#039;&#039;Bronze Horseman&#039;&#039;, Catherine’s monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg. He left Russia in 1778. During the 1780s, Falconet worked primarily on discourses about art rather than on sculpture itself. <br /> <br /> Falconet’s greatest contribution to the Enlightenment period was his ability to combine artistic styles to create unified images of historical and mythological figures. Works such as the &#039;&#039;Allegory of Music&#039;&#039; (1751) and &#039;&#039;Cupid’s Warning&#039;&#039; (1755-57) smoothed the style of the Baroque to fit the Rococo boudoir. Falconet’s most notable public achievement, however, was the &#039;&#039;Bronze Horseman&#039;&#039; statue, which depicted Peter I as an enlightened monarch pointing out the way for Russia. This statue later served as a key point of departure for several generations of Russian authors and poets, such as Alexander Pushkin, who grappled with the issue of enlightened despotism as represented in Falconet’s work.<br /> <br /> Further Reading:<br /> <br /> George Levitine, &#039;&#039;The Sculpture of Falconet&#039;&#039;, 1972.<br /> <br /> &#039;&#039;&#039;Alisa Gayle Mayor&#039;&#039;&#039;</div>

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