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Jean Baptiste Carpeaux

France Lighting the World

1865
Plaster
36.5 × 31 cm (14.4 × 12.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In 1863 Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux received a major commission for the pedimental sculpture on the south side of the Pavillon de Flore at the Musée du Louvre, Paris. For this monumental work, he designed three allegorical figures of France seated on an imperial eagle (a reference to the Emperor Napoleon III), flanked by semi-recumbent nude males representing science and agriculture. These plasters demonstrate Carpeaux’s initial conception as it was presented to the commissioning architect; they also reflect his close study of the sculpture of Michelangelo.

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