“Faun and Bacchus” Bronze Candelabras After Clodion, France, Circa 1880

Related work: Candelabra child Satyr (in pair with a little girl), model by Clodion, circa 1775, gilded and patinated bronze, Provenance : Palais de Compiègne in the 19th century, Louvre museum (OA 5207).

Claude Michel, known as Clodion, is a French sculptor born in 1738, from the Adam dynasty. He joins in 1755 the workshop of his uncle Lambert Sigisbert Adam then becomes the student of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. He wins in 1759 the sculpture grand prize and leaves to Rome in 1762 until 1771. In 1773, he is accepted by the Academy and receives his first order from the King in 1779 for a statue of Montesquieu. He is known for his mythological groups of dancers, nymphs or bathers in terracotta, and many of his artworks are exposed in museums such as the Louvre, the National Gallery of Art de Washington, or the museum of Fine Arts of Nancy.