Christophe Fratin (metz, 1801 - Le Raincy, 1864), Lion In The Brig

Christophe Fratin (Metz, 1801 - Le Raincy, 1864)

Lion in the Brig

Bronze with dark patina, cm 30 x 51 x 14

Signed "FRATIN" on the base and dated "1854"

Bibliography: Michel Poletti, Alain Richarme, Fratin, objet décoratifs & sculptures romantiques, Paris, Univers du bronze, 2000

Born in 1801 in Metz, a town on the Franco-German border at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers, Christophe Fratin (Metz, 1801 - Le Raincy, 1864) was the son of a naturalist and taxidermist. Trained first with the sculptor Charles Augustin Pioche in his hometown, but little stimulated by the too romantic style that was spreading, he decided to move soon to Paris, where he studied in the atelier of the famous painter and sculptor Théodore Géricault, Adventurous artist with a vision from which he drew his affinity for equestrian and wild subjects and for the loose superficial touch, compared in many ways to the heavy kneading of a fluid brush in the hands of his teacher. From 1831 to 1842 and from 1850 to 1862 he exhibited his works at the Paris Salon, while in 1851 he participated in the Great Exhibition in London, events that helped consolidate his international reputation. In these years Fratin received, in fact, monumental public commissions all over the world, as for example the imposing Eagles in the act of observing the prey placed since 1863 in Central Park of New York constituting the oldest sculptures existing in the New York park, the colossal bronze group depicting a Horse attacked by a lion, More than two meters high and placed in the square Montrouge of Paris, or still the majestic standing horse present in the main square of Metz, homage to the birthplace.