Perseus and Medusa

A pupil of Jouffroy and Falguière, Laurent-Honoré Marqueste won the Prix de Rome in 1871 and made his Salon debut in 1874 with the plaster relief Jacob et l'Ange. The sculptor is best known for his public commissions, such as the statue of Auguste de Thou for the Bibliothèque Nationale, his group emblematic of Geography for the Sorbonne, and his figure of Etienne Marcel. The original model for the present work, Persée luttant contre la Méduse is in the collection of the Musée de Luxembourg.