Numerous sculptors worked on the decoration of the gardens of Versailles. Some are rather secondary artists, such as the Marsy brothers (Gaspard and Balthazard), Pierre ler Legros the Elder, Étienne Le Hongre, and the Italian Jean-Baptiste Tuby, although almost all show an attenuated baroqueism as they tried to adjust to the criteria of the ‘classical art’ advocated by the Academy (Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture), an institution subordinated to the King’s will.
Nonetheless, the most prominent courtly sculptors also worked for Versailles. François Girardon and Antoine Coysevox were the most famous sculptors of the Grand Siècle. Apart from the numerous works Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) created for Versailles (decorations for the Hall of Mirrors, the Ambassadors’ Staircase, the War Room), he is the author of the bust of Louis, Grand Condé(before 1688) and the portrait of the Duchess of Burgundy, Marie Adelaide of Savoy (1710), married to the grandson of Louis XIV and mother of Louis XV, whom he also depicted in a statue as an ancient Diana (1708-1710). The realism of these portrait-busts by Coysevox, in total more than 50, transport us to the life of 17th century France.
Since the reign of Louis XIV lasted so long (72+ years to be more exact), artists had left us with a wealth of his portraits, from his early childhood years to his image as a tired old man. Louis’ old age is evident in one of Coysevox’s last works: the statue of Louis XIV imploring the Virgin (ca. 1708) where we can see a 77 year old Louis, today in the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.
François Girardon (1628-1715) carved the tomb of Richelieu (1675-1694) for his resting place at the Sorbonne. In this work we can see the influence of Italian baroque art that he was able to see during his stay in Rome, but the solemn balance of this composition and its majestic air show the “classical” characteristics typical of a French sculptor of the Grand Siècle.
From Girardon are also the relief of the Bath of the Nymphs (1668-1670) and the marble group of the Apollo served by the Nymphs (1666-1673), originally placed in the Grotto of Tethys, both at Versailles.
Apollo served by the Nymphs was sculpted by Girardon and Thomas Regnaudin between 1666 and 1673. It was originally placed in the demolished Grotto of Thetys at Versailles. Girardon’s group is the most purely classical work in French 17th century sculpture. The direct inspiration taken from Hellenistic sculpture is clearly evident in the types, the modelling of Apollo’s body and the treatment of the draperies. In fact, Girardon paid a special visit to Rome during the execution of the marble group in order to refresh his memory with the observation of ancient sculpture. The figure of Apollo is a seated version of the Apollo Belvedere emulating the pose of the Ares Ludovisi, and the Nymphs are French interpretations, very characteristic for their sophisticated grace, of the Muses by the sculptor Philiscus of Rhodes that Girardon was able to see in Italy. The main problem faced by Girardon here was not the treatment of the individual figures, but the manner of linking them into a coherent group. The models from ancient classical sculpture didn’t provide a guide, thus Girardon used as source of inspiration the contemporary paintings by Nicolas Poussin.
The sculpted group’s subject was taken from a passage mentioned in Book II of Ovid’s Metamorphoses: it refers Apollo’s end of his diurnal journey, where he went to rest in the sea cave of the goddess Thétys. In a choreographically designed ensemble, Girardon placed the six Nymphs corresponding to each other in groups of two around Apollo, two of them naked from the waist up at the feet of the god. Apart from the relief of the Crossing of the Rhine on the ewer of one of the two kneeling nymphs (Clymène), there’s no reference to current events in the scene. Girardon sculpted the figure of Apollo, that of the nymph pouring water on his hands (Doris), as well as the two kneeling nymphs: the one holding the wet cloth (Mélicertes) is a testament of the mastery of the sculptor with the media, as Girardon seems to have handled marble as it was wax. Regnaudin sculpted the figure who washes the god’s back (the goddess Tethys), as well as the nymph holding the basin (Chloé) and the large ewer (Delphire).
Apollo served by the Nymphs is a group of sculptures that had no precedents among the artists of the time. No one had dared in France or Italy to associate various isolated statues, as the Hellenistic sculptors did two thousand years before. This group with Apollo washed and perfumed by the godly maidens produces such a strong literary impression that the spectator would believe him/herself is contemplating a scene represented by living actors in the theater.
Girardon restored the Laocoön group in Rome, and also the Venus of Arles, discovered in 1651 broken into four pieces. This wonderful statue, today in the Louvre, bears a pretentious inscription in Latin that assures that it has been made more beautiful by Girardon’s art: “Ecce Girardonis pulchrior arte Venus” (‘Behold! Venus is more beautiful for the art of Girardon’). Actually, the sculptors of the Grand Siècle were convinced they were doing something similar to the works of the classical Greeks, whose marbles they even dared to restore.
In France during the 17th century and under official academic scrutiny, it originated an important tradition of the portrait-bust, conceived with pompous emphasis, but of profound elegance and much psychological depth. In addition to Coysevox, were also masters in the execution of portrait-busts the Flemish Martin van den Bogaert –who changed his last name to Desjardins– and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the oldest of a family of sculptors that also dedicated to portraiture. Some of the youngest sculptors of this group, such as brothers Nicolas and Guillaume Coustou, nephews of Coysevox, achieved their full renown during the 18th century.
In sculpture, the dominant trend was, therefore, a classicism with an entirely French seal, mostly in its aulic air.
But other artists appeared more baroque, without departing from Bernini’s Roman spirit. The statue Titan struck by Lightning (1712), by François Dumont, and the famous group by Pierre Puget Milo of Croton (1671-1682), eloquently show the baroque facet of the French sculpture of the time.
Pierre Puget (1620 or 1622-1694) was from Marseille and his extraordinary technical ability and talent for composition have not yet been sufficiently appreciated, leading some authors to describe him as the “French Bernini”. At the beginning of his artistic career he was in the service of Superintendent Fouquet, in Vaux-le-Vicomte. When Fouquet fell from grace, he returned to his native Provence. Later he went to Italy, and there he gave himself over to the exacerbated baroqueism that is displayed in the sculptures of his maturity. Famous are his two Atlantes (1657) at the door of the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) in Toulon, who act as supports of the central balcony, his Perseus and Andromeda (1679-1784), and the relief depicting the Meeting of Alexander and Diogenes (1671-1689).