Dying gladiator (3) The Wounded warrior by Pierre-Etienne Monnot

In the serie of sculptures representing dying gladiators, today is the 'Wounded Warrior, sculpted by the French sculptor Pierre-Etienne Monnot, and located in the Capitolini Museum in Rome.

This sculptor, although born in France (1657) spent all his life in Rome from the age of 10 until his death (in 1733).
He got his first sculpture lessons from his father who sculpted wood, then by Jean Dubois, and may have worked a little in Paris for some main sculptors on some projects launched by the King Louis XIV.
Once in Rome, he joined quickly a circle of French sculptors, who gradually would get an excellent reputation during the first part of the 18 century, and got many commissions, not only for Italian monuments & churches, but also for English aristocrats, for whom he sculpted tombs monuments, allegorical figures for chapels, and mythological pieces.
He also went to Kassel in 1714, where he sculpted several statues, busts and a masterpiece consisting of colored marble bas-reliefs in the Orangerie at the Karlsaue. 

Cupidon & Narcissus - Kassel

Apollo & Marsyas - Kassel

Regarding today's sculpture, the Wounded Warrior, the origin of it is a restoration. Many sculptors indeed were asked to restore statues or damaged antiquities. Monnot received a marble torso which used to be a 'Discobolus', a copy made from the original Myron sculpture.

But Monnot transformed that figure (a liberty used at the Baroque period) to make it as the Wounded Warrior, ''who supports himself on his arm as he sinks to the ground''.
It is the Pope Clement XII who offered that sculpture to the Capitoline Museum.
 

 

(This sculpture was seen last week in Rome by one of our regular reader from Paris, P., who kindly sent me a picture, together with a funny anecdote : the guide apparently did not liked when he tried to go at the back of the statue, to admire the other side, so here are 2 more pictures to help him!).

Together with this sculpture, today's bonus is the second marble sculpture at same Museum, showing one of the Niobide, also 'appreciated' by our reader!

Niobide - Capitoline Museum - Roma (photo P. from Paris)

Sources:
Wikipedia
Capitolini Museum

Dying Gladiator (2) by Michel Mosnier

In the serie of sculptures representing gladiators, lets have a look at the other French sculptor, Michel Monier, or Mosnier, who, in 1681, did this large marble sculpture called "Le Gladiateur Mourant" or "The Dying Gladiator".

Photo blog Versailles

Michel Monier is a French sculptor, born in Blois,  in the Loire Valley famous for all French castles. His birthdate is unknown. He died in Paris on Chritsmas 1686 (December 24).

Photo Labaronne

Monier was the official sculptor for the French King, and worked the last 4 years of his life in Versailles, from 1682, the same year that Louis XIV established Versailles as the King official residency, which will last a little more than 100 years, until 1789, with Louis XV, followed by Louis XVI.

Several copies have been made, some can be seen in England, like below, at the Rousham House & Garden, Oxfordshire.

And here, a copy in bronze, at the Iford Manor, Wilshire.

The dying gladiator sculpture was reproduced (wood engraving) in 1833 on the Penny Magazine, an ''illustrated British magazine aimed at the working class, published every Saturday from 31 March 1832 to 31 October 1845. Charles Knight created it for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, in response to Chamber's Edinburgh Journal, which started two months earlier. It was sold for a penny and illustrated with wood-engravings"".

Sources :
Le superbe blog spécialisé en photos de Versailles : voir ce blog
Wikipedia

mourant
This beautiful engraving was made in 1723 by Simon Thomassin in Paris. It is from his work Recuel des Statue, Groupes, Fontaines, Termes, Vases et Autres Mangifique Ornamens du Chateau et Parc de Versailles, which shows the magnificent statues, fountains and ornaments at the Palace of Versaille. King Louis XIV commissioned this work and Thomassin held the title Graveur du Roy (Engraver of the King).
This antique print was made by copper plate engraving. The paper is hand-made and chain-linked (if you hold the paper up to a strong light you can see it was made by laying the paper pulp onto a lattice of chains).
- See more at: http://www.finerareprints.com/a-fallen-gladiator-25210#sthash.c3FQrUV3.dpuf

Le gladiateur mourant
This beautiful engraving was made in 1723 by Simon Thomassin in Paris. It is from his work Recuel des Statue, Groupes, Fontaines, Termes, Vases et Autres Mangifique Ornamens du Chateau et Parc de Versailles, which shows the magnificent statues, fountains and ornaments at the Palace of Versaille. King Louis XIV commissioned this work and Thomassin held the title Graveur du Roy (Engraver of the King).
This antique print was made by copper plate engraving. The paper is hand-made and chain-linked (if you hold the paper up to a strong light you can see it was made by laying the paper pulp onto a lattice of chains).
- See more at: http://www.finerareprints.com/a-fallen-gladiator-25210#sthash.c3FQrUV3.dpuf

Dying Gladiator (1) by Pierre Julien

The theme of the dying gladiator, dying slave, dying Gaul has been sculpted by several major artists. We have seen previously the dying slave from Michel Angelo here. Today is a post about the Dying Gladiator sculpture by Pierre Julien, located in the Louvre museum.
Another post on that theme will follow with another sculptor.

Pierre Julien is a French sculptor born on 20 June 1731. He died on 17 December 1804.
He was an apprentice at an early age and then went to Paris to work under the supervision of Guillaume Coustou.

He was accepted at the French Academy in Rome (Italy), where he stayed several years. Coming back to France, he did some master pieces, such as the mausoleum of Louis (eldest son of King Louis XIV), in the Sens cathedral. He did his Ganymède (picture of that sculpture can be seen here in this blog), with the objective to be received at the Academie de peinture et de Sculpture, but failed (read more details below). He succeeded though, with this today's sculpture, the Dying Gladiator.
He was named one of the original members of the Institut de France and also Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.

Valerie Montalbetti, from the Louvre Museum, describes very well this sculpture of the Dying Gladiator, and some key elements of his life.

"A crucial work for the artist : A mortally wounded gladiator, facing death with grace and dignity, is contemplating the laurel crown he was awarded for his courage. This was Pierre Julien’s second admission piece for the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and a crucial work for him. He had presented another piece for admission in 1776, a statue of Ganymede (Louvre) and had been refused, possibly due to his teacher, Guillaume II Coustou’s, lack of support for his too talented pupil.

Humiliated by this unjust failure, Julien had thought of becoming a naval sculptor but, encouraged by friends, persevered and presented Dying Gladiator to the Académie in 1778. He was admitted on 27 March 1779 and appointed an assistant teacher in 1781...  ''

''In this scholarly work, the artist demonstrated his mastery of academic criteria whilst asserting personal qualities. The statue is a proclamation of his knowledge of antique sculpture. He was reinterpreting the Dying Gladiator in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, a marble copy of which he had sculpted during his stay at the Académie de France in Rome from 1769 to 1772.

The pose of the legs seems to have been inspired by the famous antique sculpture The Knife Grinder in Florence, a marble copy of which was executed by the Italian Foggini in 1684 for Versailles (now in the Louvre). Julien’s nude gladiator demonstrates his complete mastery of anatomy, and also drapery at the rear of the statue. ''

Photo Ivan Lemeur

''But it was the sculptor’s personal contribution which imbues the work with its sensitivity: the elegant proportions, unctuous modelling and delicate execution (the finesse of the hands, laurel leaves and strands of hair), the marble’s perfect finish and the rendering of textures (the polish of the shield and sword suggest their metallic brilliance).''

''... Julien was exalting the heroism of a man overcoming his pain and stoically dying in silence. The balanced composition, dignified pose, discreet chest wound and restrained expression are formal echoes of this heroic serenity. Like the Laocoon, one of the most admired antique statues at that time, the gladiator is in agony but not crying out in pain, and it is this dignity in suffering which makes the figure more sensitive and inward-looking. ...”

Book about Pierre Julien by André PASCAL:

Sources:
Wikipedia biography
Louvre Museum full text by Valerie Montalbetti