carpeaux

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875), a pupil of François Rude (1784-1855), holds a place in 19th-century French sculpture equivalent to Delacroix's in painting. Carpeaux's overt romanticism derives in part from Antoine-Louis Barye (1796-1875), who specialized in the sculpture of exotic animals with a penchant for violence and carnivorism. In 1854 Carpeaux travelled to Italy. In 1857, while at the French Academy in Rome, the idea for the Ugolino group was realized. This work certified Carpeaux's skill and was responsible for his instant fame. Commissioned by the proprietor of the Saint-Béat Marble quaries (who supplied the stone), the work, after long delays, was exhibited in the Exhibition Universelle of 1867. It is dated 1860