François Joseph Bosio
Encyclopedia
Baron François Joseph Bosio (19 March 1769 – 29 July 1845) was a French sculptor
who achieved distinction in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with his work for Napoleon and for the restored French monarchy.
, Bosio was given a scholarship by prince Honoré I to study in Paris with the eminent sculptor Augustin Pajou
. After brief service in the Revolutionary army he lived in Florence, Rome and Naples, providing sculpture for churches under the French hegemony in Italy in the 1790s. He was recruited by Dominique Vivant
in 1808 to make bas-reliefs for the monumental column in the Place Vendôme
in Paris and also to serve as portrait sculptor to Emperor Napoleon I
and his family. It was in this capacity that he produced some of his finest work, notably marble portrait bust
s of the Empress Josephine, which was also modelled in bisque Sèvres porcelain, and of Queen Hortense
(about 1810), which was also cast in bronze by Ravrio.
Louis XVIII
made Bosio a Knight of the Order of Saint Michael
in 1821 and appointed him premier sculpteur du Roi. In 1828, Bosio saw his grandiose equestrian sculpture
of Louis XIV
erected in the Place des Victoires in Paris and was made an Officier of the Légion d'honneur
. He was made a baron
by Charles X of France
in 1825. Though under Louis-Philippe he was stripped of his titles, he continued to receive official commissions, as the ablest portrait sculptor in Paris, and created the statue of Napoleon for the Column of the Grande Armée
in 1840 under Napoleon III
. He died in Paris.
Apart from the imperial busts and the statue of Louis XVI, other important works included the quadriga
of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
and the statue of Hercules fighting Acheloos transformed into a snake (illustration) in the Louvre
. Many of his most important sculptures and statues can today be found in the Louvre
museum in Paris.
A study of Bosio was published by L. Barbarin, Etude sur Bosio, sa vie et son oeuvre (Monaco) 1910.
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
who achieved distinction in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with his work for Napoleon and for the restored French monarchy.
Biography
Born in MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Bosio was given a scholarship by prince Honoré I to study in Paris with the eminent sculptor Augustin Pajou
Augustin Pajou
Augustin Pajou was a French sculptor, born in Paris. At eighteen he won the Prix de Rome, and at thirty exhibited his Pluton tenant Cerbère enchaîné .-Selected works:...
. After brief service in the Revolutionary army he lived in Florence, Rome and Naples, providing sculpture for churches under the French hegemony in Italy in the 1790s. He was recruited by Dominique Vivant
Dominique Vivant
Dominique Vivant, Baron de Denon was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. He was appointed first director of the Louvre Museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801.-Biography:...
in 1808 to make bas-reliefs for the monumental column in the Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
in Paris and also to serve as portrait sculptor to Emperor Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and his family. It was in this capacity that he produced some of his finest work, notably marble portrait bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
s of the Empress Josephine, which was also modelled in bisque Sèvres porcelain, and of Queen Hortense
Hortense de Beauharnais
Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte , Queen Consort of Holland, was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoleon I, being the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. She later became the wife of the former's brother, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and the mother of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
(about 1810), which was also cast in bronze by Ravrio.
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
made Bosio a Knight of the Order of Saint Michael
Order of Saint Michael
The Order of Saint Michael was a French chivalric order, founded by Louis XI of France in 1469, in competitive response to the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for the allegiance of the great houses of France, the Dukes of...
in 1821 and appointed him premier sculpteur du Roi. In 1828, Bosio saw his grandiose equestrian sculpture
Equestrian sculpture
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin "eques", meaning "knight", deriving from "equus", meaning "horse". A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an "equine statue"...
of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
erected in the Place des Victoires in Paris and was made an Officier of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. He was made a baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
by Charles X of France
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
in 1825. Though under Louis-Philippe he was stripped of his titles, he continued to receive official commissions, as the ablest portrait sculptor in Paris, and created the statue of Napoleon for the Column of the Grande Armée
Column of the Grande Armée
The Column of the Grande Armée is a 53 metre high Doric order triumphal column on the Rue Napoleon in Wimille, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.-To 1815:The column was intended to commemorate a successful invasion of England The Column of the Grande Armée (French - Colonne de la grande Armée or...
in 1840 under Napoleon III
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
. He died in Paris.
Apart from the imperial busts and the statue of Louis XVI, other important works included the quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel on the site of the former Tuileries Palace. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year...
and the statue of Hercules fighting Acheloos transformed into a snake (illustration) in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. Many of his most important sculptures and statues can today be found in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
museum in Paris.
A study of Bosio was published by L. Barbarin, Etude sur Bosio, sa vie et son oeuvre (Monaco) 1910.
In Paris
- QuadrigaQuadrigaA quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
of the Arc de Triomphe du CarrouselArc de Triomphe du CarrouselThe Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel on the site of the former Tuileries Palace. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year...
(on the Place du CarrouselPlace du CarrouselThe Place du Carrousel is a public square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located at the open end of the courtyard of the Louvre museum, a space occupied, prior to 1871, by the Tuileries Palace...
) - Hercules Wrestling Achelous, LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. - Equestrian sculpture of Louis XIV (1816–1828) (in Place des Victoires)
- Monument to Louis XVI (begun 1816, installed 1835) in the Chapelle Expiatoire.
- In the LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
:- AristaeusAristaeusA minor god in Greek mythology, which we read largely through Athenian writers, Aristaeus or Aristaios , "ever close follower of the flocks", was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keeping; he was the son of Apollo and the huntress Cyrene...
, god of gardens (1813–1817), An official commission for the Imperial palaces through Vivant-Denon, 7 December 1812; marble delivered to Bosio January 1813. - Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. This bust was replicated at least fifty-four times
- HyacinthHyacinth (mythology)Hyacinth or Hyacinthus is a divine hero from Greek mythology. His cult at Amyclae, southwest of Sparta, where his tumulus was located— in classical times at the feet of Apollo's statue in the sanctuary that had been built round the burial mound— dates from the Mycenaean era...
(1817) - Henry IVHenry IV of FranceHenry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
as a child (1824–25) This was commissioned for his study at the Tuileries by Louis XVIIILouis XVIII of FranceLouis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
; it was cast in silver by the silversmith Charles-Nicolas Odiot - HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and the Lernaean Hydra (1824) - Bust of Charles XCharles X of FranceCharles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
(1825–29) - Bust of the Duchess of Angoulême (1825)
- The nymphNymphA nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
SalmacisSalmacisIn Greek mythology, Salmacis was an atypical naiad who rejected the ways of the virginal Greek goddess Artemis in favour of vanity and idleness. Her attempted rape of Hermaphroditus places her as the only nymph rapist in the Greek mythological canon ."There dwelt a Nymph, not up for hunting or...
(1826). A reduced replica is used as the top award at the Festival de Télévision de Monte-CarloFestival de Télévision de Monte-CarloThe Monte-Carlo Television Festival was created in 16-20 January 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who wished to “encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men”.... - Bust of Queen Marie-Amélie (1841) Shown at the salon of 1837Paris SalonThe Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
; the first marble version is at the Louvre; a repetition is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Queen Marie-Amélie (1841–43), standing figure. Bosio's original plaster, pointed for a marble version, is at the Louvre Museum at Saint-Omer. The marble, finished after Bosio's death by his nephew, is at VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
.
- Aristaeus
Elsewhere
-
- CupidCupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
with a bow (1808) (Hermitage MuseumHermitage MuseumThe State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
, Russia) - Bust of Queen Marie-Amélie of France (1841) (Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) - Bust of the marquis d'Aligre (bronze) owner of the Château de BaronvilleChâteau de BaronvilleThe Château de Baronville is located between Paris and Chartres in France near the town of Béville-le-Comte, Eure-et-Loir.It rises in the center of a vast park anchored with several lakes. The château was built for grand receptions during the Second Empire and hosted many prestigious guests...
(California Palace of the Legion of HonorCalifornia Palace of the Legion of HonorThe California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fine art museum in San Francisco, California...
)
- Cupid