CAST BY GOLDSCHEIDER, FROM A MODEL BY JEAN-ALEXANDRE-JOSEPH FALGUIÈRE, LATE 19TH CENTURY,

REMINISCENT OF EUGèNE DELACROIX'S LIBERTY GUIDING THE PEOPLE, FALGUIèRE'S OWN ALLEGORY OF LIBERTY OCCUPIED THE ARTIST'S ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER FOR NEARLY A DECADE, INVOLVING NUMEROUS FIGURAL COMPOSITIONS AND A MULTITUDE OF MAQUETTES AND SKETCHES. COMMISSIONED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT IN 1890 TO ADORN THE PANTHéON, THE PRESENT LOT IS THE THIRD OF FOUR DESIGNS DEVELOPED BY THE ARTIST BETWEEN 1890 AND 1898. HOWEVER, THE DESIGN WAS REJECTED IN FAVOUR OF HIS FINAL 1894 DESIGN COMPRISING A FULLY DRESSED FIGURE OF LIBERTY GRASPING A POPLAR BRANCH AND STRIDING OVER A FIGURE OF IGNORANCE. MUCH TO FALGUIèRE'S CHAGRIN, THE MONUMENT NEVER REALIZED ITS FINAL MEDIUM DUE TO ITS LACK-LUSTER RECEPTION BY CRITICS AND LENGTHY DELIBERATIONS BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. THOUGH THE PROJECT WAS ULTIMATELY ABANDONED, THE ARTIST'S VISION SURVIVES IN A SINGLE PLASTER CAST HOUSED AT THE MUSéE DES BEAUX-ARTS IN LILLE AND IN A SMALL EDITION OF BRONZE CASTS BY GOLDSCHEIDER.