After Antoine Coysevox

After ANTOINE COYSEVOX (France, 1640 - 1720), ca. 1870.
"Allegory of Spring".
Bronze.
Presents stamps and signatures of Coysevox and Barbedienne.
Measurements: 45 x 22 x 20 cm.

The work represented is a later model in bronze of an original by Antoine Coysevox, made around 1710, which can be found in the Louvre Museum (MR 1818). The sculptural group has known various titles: "Allegory of Spring", "Flora and Cupid", "Flora and Zephyr"... depending on whether one interprets the companion of the goddess as the god of love or the spirit of the air who fell in love with Flora. The female figure, seated on a stump, holds a floral festoon. Next to her, Eros (or Zephyrus, the god of wind) holds a garland. The sculpture is resolved with virtuosity and expertise in the sensual recreation of the mythological figures.

Coysevox joined the workshop of the sculptor Louis Lerambert, where he worked copying Roman sculptures in marble. In 1676 he completed a bust of Le Brun, which earned him admission to the Royal Academy. Thanks to this he became part of the team of the aforementioned Le Brun, thus being able to make several pieces for Versailles and Marly, where the piece in question was to be found.