Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain (11 October 1710,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

– 17 April 1795, Paris) was a French sculptor who tempered a neoclassical style with Rococo charm and softness, under the influence of his much more famous brother-in-law, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle.

Biography

Allegrain was born into a well-established family of landscape painters in

. His single most famous work, a marble ''Bather'' (''La Baigneuse''), was commissioned for the royal residences through the

Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, "King's Buildings") was a division of the Maison du Roi ("King's Household") in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtimen ...

in 1755; a modelled sketch was shown at the Salon of 1757. When the finished marble was finally exhibited at the Salon of 1767 it received a sensational reception. In 1772 Louis XV presented it to

Mme du Barry Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being ...

for her

Château de Louveciennes The Château de Louveciennes in Louveciennes, in the Yvelines département of France, is composed of the château itself, constructed at the end of the 17th century. It was then expanded and redecorated by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Madame du Barry ...

, where she had recently completed the famed pavilion that introduced the new

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism ...

, usually associated with the "Louis Seize style", into court circles. After the King's death she was pleased enough with it to commission from Allegrain a pendant bather in 1776, which he delivered in 1778 (''illustration''). presented in the landscape garden as ''Vénus'' and ''Diane'' they provided an allegory of her past sensual love and her present chaste condition. (Both are conserved in the Louvre Museum.) There are small-scale patinated bronze reproductions, and both pieces remained popular and often reproduced through the nineteenth century: in 1860, when the

Goncourt brothers The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to m ...

referred to "the refined legs of a ''Diana'' of Allegrain","les jambes fines d'une Diane d'Allegrain", ''Les hommes de lettres'' 1860
on-line
) their readers conjured up the familiar image. His portrait by Joseph Duplessis, 1774, earned the painter a place in the

Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abo ...

. Among his pupils were his son and François-Dominique-Aimé Milhomme. He died in Paris.

Notes

References

*Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre (sous la direction de Jean-René Gaborit, Musée du Louvre. département des sculptures du Moyen Âge, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes. ''Sculpture française II. Renaissance et temps modernes'' vol. 1 Paris, 1998

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allegrain, Christophe-Gabriel 1710 births 1795 deaths Artists from Paris 18th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 18th-century French male artists