Antonin Mercié (1845 - 1916): David.

The patinated bronze statue representing victorious David signed "A. Mercié" on the terrace.
Numbering on the terrace "978".
Bears the stamp "A. Collas" and "Barbedienne fondeur Paris".
Reproduced in Kjelberg, Les bronzes du XIXth century, Amateur edition, p. 490.

French painter and sculptor, Antonin Mercié studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He won the Prix de Rome in 1868. David, Gloria Victis, the Génie des Arts (bas-relief in the Louvre Palace) are his most famous sculptures. Many other statues, busts or medallions of his hand allow Mercié to win a medal of honor at the Universal Exhibition of 1878 and the grand prize at that of 1889.

Antonin Mercié performs plaster in Rome, where he finishes his training. The statue earned him the Legion of Honor. The work was commissioned in bronze by the State in 1872, then placed in the Musée du Luxembourg in 1874. The statue became one of the images most disseminated in illustrated newspapers, and was so successful that it was published in small size, and in six different sizes by the founder Barbedienne. The statue of David is kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, another copy is at the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse.

Dimensions: Height: 74 cm; Width: 21 cm.