Lot Essay
Vital Cornu studied under Delaplanche and Jouffroy and exhibited at the Salon during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, winning various medals. He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1896. A bronze group of nearly identical size to the present lot sold Sotheby's, London, 9 April 2003, lot 135 (£7,800).