PERSEUS RESCUING ANDROMEDA FROM THE SEA SERPENT

The son of a sculptor, Clésinger was taken by his father to Italy to study under Thorvaldsen. There he spent numerous years admiring and studying the works of the Renaissance masters before finally returning to Paris. In 1847 he achieved international recognition with a life-size marble Woman Bitten by a Snake, now in the Louvre. This work was praised by critics for its mastery of movement and the sensuous depiction of the female form. Clésinger's works were so much in demand that in 1854 the state commissioned the artist to execute an equestrian statue of Francis I. He was later asked to produce four equestrian portrait statues representing Marceau, Kleber, Hoche and Granet to decorate the façade of the Ecole Militaire, Paris.