The Louvre preempts the sculpture by Anguier

21/6/23 - Acquisition - Paris, Musée du Louvre - It would have been appalling if this admirable terracotta had not found its way into French public collections. Fortunately, François Anguier’s model for the funerary monument of Jacques de Souvré was preempted by the Louvre and sold for €2,552,000 (including costs) at the Osenat sale on 18 June. At the museum, she will be reunited with the marble group of which she is the preparatory sketch (ill. 1 and 2), while the rest of the monument has been dispersed to various locations (see news item of 9/6/23).

1. François Anguier (1604-1669)
Funerary Monument to Jacques de Souvré (1600-1670), before 1667
Terracotta - H. 42 x 77 x 20 cm
Osenat Sale, Versailles, 18 June 2023
Photo: Osenat

See the image in its page

This is a major acquisition, not only because this terracotta is a masterpiece, but also because its fragile material and its status as a sketch make its preservation miraculous. It also provides a better understanding of the work of François Anguier, who has been eclipsed in art history by his brother Michel, a sculptor and member of the Académie royale. In recent years, studies by Françoise de La Moureyre, Claire Mazel and Philippe Bonnet have enabled us to rediscover his talent.

2. François Anguier (1604-1669)
Funerary Monument to Jacques de Souvré (1600-1670), before 1667
Marble - 106 x 197 x 55.5 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Louvre

See the image in its page

François Anguier was in fact one of the great funerary sculptors in Paris in the years 1640-1660, responsible for translating for posterity the political power and piety of princes, offering them immortality in stone or more simply, for the most impatient, the admiration of their contemporaries. He is often presented as an atticist sculptor, in the tradition of painters such as Laurent de La Hyre, creating works that are both learned and interiorised.

He trained in Paris with Simon Guillain before leaving…