Christopher Fratin (1 January 1801 – 16 August 1864), also known as Christophe Fratin, was a noted French sculptor in the

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

style, and one of the earliest French sculptors to portray animals in bronze.

Early life

Fratin was born in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

the son of a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

. He first studied drawing under Pioche in Metz and later worked in

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 ...

at the studio of

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French Painting, painter and Lithography, lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pi ...

Work

He exhibited at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial ar ...

from 1831 to 1842 and 1850–1862, as well as at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

in London in 1851. Fratin never signed his bronzes but instead used a stamp showing his last name in straight block letters. One of the stamps he used (''pictured'') showed the "n" reversed, not by design but due to an error on the part of the maker of the stamp. Bronzes bearing this stamp have the appearance of not seeming to be genuine when in reality they are. Fratin received monumental commissions in France and elsewhere, including the ''Deux Aigles Gardant Leur Proie'' (''Eagles and Prey'', created 1850) displayed since 1863 in New York City's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. Many of his small bronzes—including his miniature bronzes which were more affordable due to their smaller size—were sold commercially to the general public during his lifetime. Today, Fratin's sculpture is on permanent display in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

, the city museums of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of ...

and at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. The

Georg Eisler Georg Eisler (20 April 1928, Vienna – 15 January 1998, Vienna) was an Austrian painter from the school of Oskar Kokoschka. His father Hanns Eisler was a composer and his mother Charlotte Eisler, née Demant a well-known singer and music teacher ...

archive in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

also has on display works by Fratin. A number of Fratin's pieces portray horses, especially portraits of famous horses such as ''Fermer, cheval anglais pur-sang'', a wax of which he debuted at the Salon of 1831, the same exhibition in which

Barye The barye (symbol: Ba), or sometimes barad, barrie, bary, baryd, baryed, or barie, is the centimetre–gram–second (CGS) unit of pressure. It is equal to 1 dyne per square centimetre. : = = = = = See also *Pas ...

's ''Tigre dévorant un gavial'' was featured. At

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

Square in Paris appears a colossal bronze group standing 2 meters high entitled ''Cheval attaqué par un lion'', executed in 1852. Fratin received many commissions from the State including groups designed for the botanical garden and the

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

of his hometown; amongst the groups were two dogs, a deer at bay, a purebred horse, and some eagles. He also produced a number of whimsical bear sculptures, one being ''Ours jouant de la cornemuse'' which shows a bear holding a musical instrument.

Death and legacy

Fratin died on 17 August 1864 at

Le Raincy Le Raincy () is a prestigious commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Le Raincy is a subprefecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Le Raincy. Its popu ...

(

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobig ...

) and is buried in Montmartre Cemetery. He is honored in Metz where a street is named after him.

Photo gallery

File:Horse_Fratin.jpg, Monumental ''Horse'' c. 1850, in

, France File:Fratin-Goat-Bronze.c1840.jpg, A miniature bronze of a goat by Fratin, c. 1840 File:Fratin-Rooster-Bronze-c1840.jpg, A miniature bronze of a rooster by Fratin, c. 1840 File:Fratin-Inverted.n-stamp.JPG, Reversed "N" stamp used by Fratin

References

Bibliography

* Michel Poletti, Alain Richarme, ''Fratin : objets décoratifs & sculptures romantiques'', Paris : Univers du bronze sculptures XIXe & XXe, 2000. . * Jane Horswell, ''Les Animaliers'', 1971. * James Mackay, ''The Animaliers'', 1973. * Christopher Payne, ''Animals in Bronze'', 1986. * Pierre Kjellberg, ''Bronzes of the 19th Century'', 1994. * George Savage, ''A Concise History of Bronzes'', 1968. * E. Benezit, ''Dictionnaire des Peintres et Sculpteurs'', 1966. * Stanaslas Lami, ''Dictionnaire de Sculpteurs de l'ecole Francaise'', 1914.

External links

Bronze Gallery: Christophe Fratin

Central Park Conservancy: Eagles and Prey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fratin, Christopher 1801 births 1864 deaths Animal artists Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 19th-century French painters French male painters Metz School 19th-century French male artists