Sculpteurs du roi. Les morceaux de réception à l'Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (1657 - 1791)

To be admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, sculptors had to present a piece of work, usually in marble, after receiving approval that gave them the title of sculptor to the king. These virtuoso works, produced between the mid-17th century and the Revolution, tell an essential part of the history of ...

To be admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, sculptors had to present a piece of work, usually in marble, after being granted the title of sculptor to the king. These virtuoso works, produced between the mid-17th century and the Revolution, tell an essential part of the history of the art of sculpture in France, the training of artists under the Ancien Régime, and the changes undergone by this prestigious academic institution over a century and a half. This book is devoted to all of these reception pieces, of which the Sculpture Department of the Louvre Museum preserves an almost complete collection. It showcases the plastic power of these admirable figures, presented in their entirety for the first time.