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Lot Essay
Mathurin Moreau (d. 1912) was the eldest brother in a successful and prolific family of painters and sculptors: his brothers Auguste Moreau and Hippolyte Moreau, and his nephews Louis-Auguste and Hippolyte François, also became celebrated sculptors. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at the age of nineteen and studied under Dumont, and first exhibited at the Salon of 1848. He worked on numerous public monuments, as well as a series of large decorative bronze statuettes, for which he is primarily famed.
Auguste Lemaire founded a workshop for the manufacture of 'bronzes d'art' in 1851 at 10, rue Saintonge, in the Marais district. In 1855 he became a member of the Réunion des Fabricants and was awarded a medaillé de 2e classe at Paris Exposition Universelle that year. He cast numerous bronzes for leading sculptors of the day and chenets, torchères, lustres and garnitures de chiminee in the Henri II and Louis XVI styles.
The subjects, previously identified as Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, are more certainly Marie de Médici (Queen of France, 1600-1610), and Mary Queen of Scots, or Marie Stuart (Queen consort of France, 1559-1560). The attribution is based on the known existence of an identical cast with crown and sceptre titled ‘Marie de Médici’. Moreau’s inspiration might have been the statues of Marie de Médicis, by Louis-Denis Caillouette, and Marie Stuart, by Jean-Jacques Feuchère, at the jardin du Luxembourg, which are part of a series known as the ‘Reines de France et Femmes illustres’ commissioned by Louis- Philippe and executed circa 1847/48. It is possible, although early in his career, that Moreau’s versions were his attempt to secure a state commission for one of the ‘Reines de France’, the models being later cast in bronze by Auguste Lemaire.
Both tragic heroines, Moreau’s choice to pair the ‘two Maries’ would have appealed to the 19th century taste for intrigue, romantic historicism and patriotism. Mary’s short marriage to Francis I, briefly united Scotland and France, and her abdication and execution ensured her legacy as Catholic martyr and heroic victim. She is shown with quill pen and parchment, possibly in reference to the moment of her abdication in favour of her son James VI of Scotland, later James I of England. Marie de Médici was an equally divisive figure, but as Queen Regent ultimately ensured the dominance of the Bourbon line. The ‘two Maries’ were golden figures of French nationalism, emphasising France’s position at the centre of European power and art.
Auguste Lemaire founded a workshop for the manufacture of 'bronzes d'art' in 1851 at 10, rue Saintonge, in the Marais district. In 1855 he became a member of the Réunion des Fabricants and was awarded a medaillé de 2e classe at Paris Exposition Universelle that year. He cast numerous bronzes for leading sculptors of the day and chenets, torchères, lustres and garnitures de chiminee in the Henri II and Louis XVI styles.
The subjects, previously identified as Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, are more certainly Marie de Médici (Queen of France, 1600-1610), and Mary Queen of Scots, or Marie Stuart (Queen consort of France, 1559-1560). The attribution is based on the known existence of an identical cast with crown and sceptre titled ‘Marie de Médici’. Moreau’s inspiration might have been the statues of Marie de Médicis, by Louis-Denis Caillouette, and Marie Stuart, by Jean-Jacques Feuchère, at the jardin du Luxembourg, which are part of a series known as the ‘Reines de France et Femmes illustres’ commissioned by Louis- Philippe and executed circa 1847/48. It is possible, although early in his career, that Moreau’s versions were his attempt to secure a state commission for one of the ‘Reines de France’, the models being later cast in bronze by Auguste Lemaire.
Both tragic heroines, Moreau’s choice to pair the ‘two Maries’ would have appealed to the 19th century taste for intrigue, romantic historicism and patriotism. Mary’s short marriage to Francis I, briefly united Scotland and France, and her abdication and execution ensured her legacy as Catholic martyr and heroic victim. She is shown with quill pen and parchment, possibly in reference to the moment of her abdication in favour of her son James VI of Scotland, later James I of England. Marie de Médici was an equally divisive figure, but as Queen Regent ultimately ensured the dominance of the Bourbon line. The ‘two Maries’ were golden figures of French nationalism, emphasising France’s position at the centre of European power and art.