Paul Dubois (1827-1905) - Military Courage, Bronze H. 69 Cm

Bronze proof with brown patina. Cast by BARBEDIENNE, mechanical reduction by COLAS. Paul Dubois (Nogent-sur-Seine 1827-Paris 1905): Son of a provincial notary, Dubois initially studied law, then turned to sculpture and entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1858. After a four-year stay in Italy, particularly in Florence, he returned to France and enjoyed immense success at the Salons of 1864 and 1865 by exhibiting his Saint John the Baptist as a Child and his Florentine Singer. While having a particularly active workshop, Dubois was appointed curator of the Musée du Luxembourg in 1873, member of the Institute in 1876 and director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1878. The composition of the proposed sculpture is inspired by a work by Michelangelo, the statue of Giuliano de Medici kept in the Medici Chapel in Florence; the Dubois plaster model is in the collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Troyes. It was one of the figures that adorn the tomb of General de la Moricière built by the architect Louis Boitte around 1875 for the cathedral of Nantes.