Jean-Jacques Caffieri (29 April 1725 – 22 June 1792) was a French sculptor. He was appointed ''sculpteur du Roi'' to

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

and later afforded lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre. He designed the fine ''rampe d'escalier'' which still adorns the

Palais Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was ...

. He is better known for his portrait busts, in terracotta or marble: his bust of

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...

is at the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

, St Petersburg. He made a name with his busts of

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

and

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

for the foyer of the Comédie Française.

Life

He was born in Paris and came from a family of sculptors from Italy, who had moved to France during

cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...

's regency. His father

Jacques Caffieri Jacques Caffieri (25 August 1678, Paris – 25 November 1755, Paris) was a French sculptor, working for the most part in bronze. Life Jacques Caffiéri was the fifth son of Philippe Caffieri (1634-1716), the founder of this family of artists. ...

and his elder brother Philippe Caffieri were also sculptors. Jean-Jacques remained unmarried and had no children. A pensionary at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

in Rome from 1749 to 1753, as well as a student of

François Lemoyne François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo painter. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome, professor of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, and '' Premier peintre du Roi'' to Louis XV. He wa ...

, he joined the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in France in 1757. He produced bust or portraits of many great men, notably

Thomas Corneille Thomas Corneille (20 August 1625 – 8 December 1709) was a French lexicographer and dramatist. Biography Born in Rouen some nineteen years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself ...

Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688) was a French dramatist and librettist. Biography Quinault was born in Paris. He was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's fi ...

Jean de la Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French Fable, fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''La Fontaine's Fables, Fables'', which provided a model for subs ...

and

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

, as well as the monument to

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish-born American military officer who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and ...

St. Paul's Chapel St. Paul's Chapel is a chapel building of Trinity Church (Manhattan), Trinity Church, an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal parish, located at 209 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, between Fulton Street (Manhattan), Fulton Street and V ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His students included

Jean-Joseph Foucou Jean-Joseph Foucou (1739 – 16 February 1821) was a French sculptor. Foucou was born at Riez, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. A student at the École de peinture et de sculpture of Marseille, he went to Paris, where he entered the workshop of Jean- ...

Bibliography

Auguste Jal Auguste Jal (12 April 1795, in Lyon – 5 April 1873) was a French author who wrote on maritime archaeology and history. Biography He was educated at the naval school in Brest, France, Brest, and led a company of the cadets in the defense of Pari ...

, ''Dictionnaire Critique de Biographie et d'Histoire'', Paris, 1867

Works

Sculptures by Caffieri

(

Louis Nicolas Victor de Félix d'Ollières Louis Nicolas Victor de Félix d'Ollières (23 September 1711, Aix-en-Provence – 10 October 1775, Versailles (city), Versailles),See Alphéran 1846, T. II: 420. comte du Muy, comte de Grignan, was a French soldier and statesman from a family ori ...

) by Jean-Jacques Caffieri at the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

of Art in

(1776) * Portrait bust of a young woman, terra cotta (California Palace of the Legion of Honor)

Gallery

File:Jean-Jacques Caffieri - Portrait bust of a young woman CPLH 1927.211.JPG, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1770, ''Portrait bust of a young woman'', terracotta,

California Palace of the Legion of Honor The Legion of Honor, formally known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, is an art museum located in San Francisco, on the West Side of the city. Located in Lincoln Park, the Legion of Honor is a component of the Fine Arts Museum ...

, San Francisco File:Vierge à l'enfant de Jean-Jacques Caffieri Eglise Saint-Antoine a Compiegne DSC 0276.JPG, Jean-Jacques Caffieri (attributed), ''Virgin and Child'', Church Saint-Antoine, Compiègne, Oise, Picardie, France File:Molière Caffieri Louvre ENT 1987.08.JPG, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ''Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin'', better known as Molière (1622-1673). Marble, exhibited at the

Salon of 1787 The Salon of 1787 was an art exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris between 25 August and 23 September 1787. It was the final Salon to take place under the Ancien Régime before the outbreak of the French Revolution two years later. Organised by ...

. Department of Sculptures, Richelieu wing, ground floor, room 29,

The Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris File:Pierre Corneille, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, Paris 1723 1792.JPG, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1779, ''Pierre Corneille'', 140 cm x 92 cm, terracotta,

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen () is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877, and 1888. Its collections in ...

, Normandy, France File:Alexis Piron by Jean-Jacques Caffieri.jpg, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1762, ''Alexis Piron'',

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon is a museum of fine arts opened in 1787, in Dijon, France. It is one of the main and oldest museums of France. It is located in the historic city centre of Dijon and housed in the former ducal palace which was ...

, Dijon, France File:Jean-Philippe Rameau by Jean-Jacques Caffieri - 20080203-03.jpg, Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1760, ''Jean-Philippe Rameau'',

, Dijon, France

Sources

Extract from Jal's biographical dictionary

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caffieri, Jean-Jacques 1725 births 1792 deaths French people of Italian descent 18th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Court sculptors Sculptors from Paris 18th-century French male artists Members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture