Alphonse Lami (22 June 1822,
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. ...
-17 July 1867,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...
) was a French sculptor and Egyptologist of Italian descent.
Life
He was the son of François Lami (illegitimate son of prince
Francesco Borghese) and Louise Hélène Heim (granddaughter of
Jean-Baptiste Nicolet. He joined the Ecole des Beaux-Arts on 7 October 1846, studying under
Abel de Pujol and
Francisque Duret
Francisque Joseph Duret (; 19 October 1804 – 26 May 1865) was a French sculptor, son and pupil of François-Joseph Duret (1732–1816).
Life and career
Before becoming a sculptor, Francisque Duret had shown interest in pursuing a career in thea ...
. He first 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 art ...
in 1850 with a marble statue entitled "Liseuse". He then went to Egypt where from 1852 to 1853 he took part in the excavation of the
Serapeum of Saqqara
The Serapeum of Saqqara was the ancient Egyptian burial place for sacred bulls of the Apis cult at Memphis. It was believed that the bulls were incarnations of the god Ptah, which would become immortal after death as ''Osiris-Apis''. a name whi ...
, which were headed by his friend
Auguste Mariette
François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Early ...
. Returning to Paris, he married Alexandrine-Marie Bidauld (granddaughter of the rural painter and member of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld) in 1853 - their son
Stanislas Lami was a noted sculptor and art writer - and devoted himself to studying artistic anatomy and produced a flayed or ''écorche'' figure digging with a shovel, which he exhibited at the Salon in 1857. This work was also presented at the Académie des Sciences and was the report of an ecology written in the name of MM.
Claude Bernard
Claude Bernard (; 12 July 1813 – 10 February 1878) was a French physiologist. Historian I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science". He originated the term '' milieu intérieur'', and the a ...
,
Pierre Rayer,
Horace Vernet
Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 178917 January 1863), more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects.
Biography
Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famous painter, who w ...
and
Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau
Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau (10 February 1810 – 12 January 1892) was a French biologist.
Life
He was born at Berthézène, in the commune of Valleraugue ( Gard), the son of a Protestant farmer. He studied science and then med ...
. Later, in 1861, Lami published an album of engravings after this écorché under the title ''"Myologie superficielle du corps humain"''. Lami was made a knight of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
on 12 August 1859.
In 1865, Alphonse Lami took part in the scientific commission sent to Mexico by the ministry of public instruction. Suffering from a liver disease he had caught from his stay in the tropics, he unwisely undertook a new trip to Egypt on his return to France from Mexico. He arrived in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...
when his condition suddenly worsened and he died there in July 1867.
Works

* Bust of
Michel Chevalier
Michel Chevalier (; 13 January 1806 – 18 November 1879) was a French engineer, statesman, economist and free market liberal.
Biography
Born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, Chevalier studied at the '' École Polytechnique'', obtaining an enginee ...
* ''Liseuse'', exhibited at the 1850 Salon
* ''L'Ecorché'', exhibited at the 1857 Salon, Musée d'Anatomie de Montpellier
Sources
* Archives de la Seine.
* ''La Parentèle de Charles et Yvonne de Gaulle''
* ''Dictionnaire des sculpteurs du XIX° siècle'' by
Stanislas Lami.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lami
1822 births
1867 deaths
French people of Italian descent
Alphonse Alphonse may refer to:
* Alphonse (given name)
* Alphonse (surname)
* Alphonse Atoll
Alphonse Atoll is one of two atolls of the Alphonse Group, the other being St. François Atoll — both in the Outer Islands (Coralline Seychelles) coral arch ...
Knights of the Legion of Honour
19th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors