Ferdinand Barbedienne

FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE (France, 1810-1892)
"Mercury"
Patinated bronze and Belgian black marble pedestal.
Numbered and signed: "F. Barbediene" and mechanical reduction stamp of Achille Collas.
Slight flaws
Measurements: 91 x 46 x 22 cm; 12 x 20 cm (base)

The work follows the model of the original sculpture by the Flemish artist Jean de Bologne, better known by the Italianized form of his name, "Giambologna", today kept in the Bargello Museum in Florence. The piece, originally made in 1567, presents the classical divinity Mercury (Roman version of the Greek Hermes), the messenger of the gods. The artist has sought to translate the lightness and speed of the character through a posture of great audacity. The god defies the laws of gravity by leaning only on the tips of his toes, which barely touch the base of the sculpture, which consists of a male head exhaling a breath of air. This is the personification of the south wind, a figure also deified in classical mythology and Mercury's ally in the propagation of news, good and bad. Despite this reduced base, the artist managed to create a very balanced piece, where the gestures of the arms and legs are perfectly balanced to allow the bronze to support itself without the need for added elements. Thus, the right arm rises towards the sky in an expressive gesture, while the left arm moves back and balances it, holding the herald's emblematic rod. With this work, full of movement, grace and delicacy, where the artist also works admirably with the nude, some of the most outstanding contributions of the classical Italian Renaissance are summarized.

The F. Barbedienne foundry was founded in Paris in 1838 by Ferdinand Barbedienne and Achille Collas, the latter inventor of a machine to mechanically reduce the size of sculptures. At first they were dedicated to the production of bronze reproductions of sculptures from Roman and Greek antiquity, such as the one presented here. Their first contract to publish works created by a living artist was signed in 1843, with the sculptor François Rude. During the following years, after surviving the economic collapse of 1848, the Barbedienne house signed contracts with many of the sculptors active in Paris at the time, including David d'Angers, Jean-Baptiste Clesinger, Antoine Louis Barye and others. Achille Collas died in 1859, after which Ferdinand Barbedienne was left as sole partner in a firm that had grown to approximately three hundred workers. In 1865 he was appointed president of the Association of Broncists, a position he held until 1885. However, the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and the consequent shortage of raw metals, forced Barbedienne to interrupt his artistic production, although he signed a contract with the French government to make cannons, which allowed him to keep the foundry open. After the war, he resumed his sculptural production and put even more effort into signing contracts with various sculptors. At his death in 1891, he was praised as the best foundryman in France, and was called by Albert Susse "a source of pride for the nation". The management of the foundry then fell to Barbedienne's nephew, Gustave Leblanc, who continued the high quality of production and opened branches in Germany, England and the United States.