A FRENCH GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF DAVID VAINQUEUR, cast from a model by Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié, the hero standing, his right foot on the severed head of the giant, wearing a headscarf and a loincloth, replacing his sword in the ornate scabbard held in his left hand, on an elaborately cast circular base, signed A. MERCIE and with the founders mark F. BARBEDIENNE Fondeur on a square stepped slate plinth with the numbers to the underside 50368, late 19th Century

細節

A FRENCH GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF DAVID VAINQUEUR, cast from a model by Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié, the hero standing, his right foot on the severed head of the giant, wearing a headscarf and a loincloth, replacing his sword in the ornate scabbard held in his left hand, on an elaborately cast circular base, signed A. MERCIE and with the founders mark F. BARBEDIENNE Fondeur on a square stepped slate plinth with the numbers to the underside 50368, late 19th Century
the figure: 11in. (28cm.) high
the plinth: 3¾in. (8.6cm.) square; 1¾in. (4.4cm.) high

拍品專文

After dispatching Goliath with sling and stone, David approached the fallen giant, unsheathed his sword and severed his head. The victor, as sculpted here, has one foot on Goliath's gaping head wound while resheathing his sword.

David Vainqueur, with it's youthful figure originally sculpted nude, won first prize in Rome, in 1870. This popular work was then clothed by Barbedienne and cast in five sizes of which the present example is the smallest.
Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié (1845-1916) studied under Jouffroy and Falguière and won the Grand prix de Rome when only 23 years old. Enormously respected, Mercié was elected President of the Société des Artistes Français in 1913, three years prior to his death, as well as being one of the few sculptors to reach the rank of Grand Officier in the Légion d'Honneur.