Nessus And Dejanira Large Gilt Bronze Sculpture By Aj Leduc (1848-1918)

"Nessus and Deianeira" gilded bronze - AJ Le Duc (1848-1918) "Nessus and Deianeira", A large rare gilded bronze statue by AJ Le Duc (1848-1918) The centaur Nessus carrying off Deianeira, the wife of Hercules, gilded bronze on a marble base.

Mythology: Nessus of Nes(s)os was a centaur in Greek mythology, son of Ixion and Nephele. But he is best known for his confrontation with Hercules: while the hero, accompanied by his wife Deianira, tries to cross the Evenos, Nessus offers to take charge of Deianira. Hercules accepts, but having crossed the river, he hears the cries of his wife whom Nessus tries to abuse on the other bank. He then shoots one of his arrows coated with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra at the centaur.


Biography: Born in Normandy, Arthur Le Duc is the only son of Charles Le Duc and Maria Le More. He is a student at the Malherbe high school in Caen, located in the abbey of the men (current town hall). He enrolled in the law faculty of the University of Caen, from which he graduated in 1869. At the same time, he took classes from Alfred Guillard or the sculptor Pierre Le Nordez at the Beaux Arts in Caen. During the Republican part of the war of 1870, he joined the mobile national guard of Calvados and took part in the fighting in the Army of the Loire. He emerged strongly marked by this conflict. He settled in Paris in 1872. He married in Caen on October 4, 1881 with Marie Célestine Lecomte born on March 8, 1860 in Caen and died on September 13, 1939 in Luc Sur Mer. In addition to bronze, he also sculpted stone, for example for the statue of Saint Peter on the facade of the Pharmacie du Progrès, (rue Saint-Jean in Caen8,9, statue disappeared in 1944), marble for the Monte-Carlo fountain and Noron clay for the medallions on the facade of the Caen teacher training college, rue Caponière. The Duke nevertheless maintained a link with Normandy, notably through his political mandates: he was elected mayor of Asnières en Besin from 1893 to 1918, and general councillor of the canton of Isgny from 1904 to 1918. He died on 14 February 1918 at his home in Antibes (Ponteil district, Villa Marie Alice) as mentioned on his death certificate. He is buried in the Caen cemetery of Saint-Gabriel in a funerary monument which he probably designed10. A museum is dedicated to him at the Chateau des Matignon in Torigni sur Vire, his hometown.