Mythological Bronze, Atalanta With The Apple, Napoleon III Period, Signed Hippolyte Moreau, 19th Century

Antique bronze sculpture dating from the second half of the 19th century.
Very beautiful medal patina.
Mythological subject depicting the heroine Atalanta.
Work by the French artist Hippolyte François Moreau.
The young woman is depicted running and holding a mirror in her hand.
An apple is placed at her feet. 47cm high.
Signed on the base.
Very good condition.


Atalanta refuses to marry. To force her, her father makes her compete in the race against those who wish to marry her. Atalanta is an exceptional athlete. No one has ever managed to beat her. One of her suitors, Hippomenes, is determined to win the hand of the beautiful woman. Especially since, according to some sources, those who lose will be killed by the heroine, who pursues them throughout the race armed with a bow or a javelin. Hippomenes therefore asks the goddess Aphrodite for help. Look! Her again... We will see later that this is not trivial. The goddess of love accepts and gives the young man three golden apples. During the race, he throws them in front of Atalanta. Distracted, dazzled, bewitched, the young woman picks them up and lets herself be left behind. Hippomenes takes advantage of this and wins the race... and the hand of the indomitable virgin


Hippolyte Moreau, born in Dijon on April 1, 1832 and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on January 4, 1926, is a French sculptor. BiographyFrançois known as Hippolyte is the second son of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Joseph Moreau and trained in his father's workshop. With his two brothers Mathurin and Auguste, he moved to Paris to study under François Jouffroy at the École des Beaux-Arts. From 1863 to 1914, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, where he sent decorative subjects most often inspired by the 18th century. He won a medal at the 1878 World's Fair and another at the 1900 World's Fair. He mainly produced medium-sized works and decorative or everyday objects: vases, statuettes, letter openers, and bronze, spelter, or pewter pocket emptiers. He is the author of the statue of Alexis Claude Clairaut (1880) on one of the facades of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, rue de Lobau. Most of his works are kept at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon.