David Defeating Goliath, Antonin Mercié (1845 - 1916)

Bronze cast with a brown patina depicting King David defeating Goliath, created by the sculptor Marius Antonin Mercié (1845–1916), dating from the second half of the 19th century.

Signed “A. Mercié” on the base.

Numbered “978” on the base.

Bears the stamps “A. Collas” and “Barbedienne fondeur Paris.”

Reproduced in Kjelberg, *Les bronzes du XIXe siècle*, Éditions de l’Amateur, p. 490.

A French painter and sculptor, Antonin Mercié studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He won the Prix de Rome in 1868. David, Gloria Victis, and The Genius of the Arts (a bas-relief at the Louvre) are his best-known sculptures. Numerous other statues, busts, and medallions he created earned Mercié a medal of honor at the 1878 World’s Fair and the Grand Prix at the 1889 World’s Fair.

Antonin Mercié created the plaster model in Rome, where he completed his training. The statue earned him the Legion of Honor. The work was commissioned in bronze by the French government in 1872 and placed in the Musée du Luxembourg in 1874. The statue became one of the most widely reproduced images in illustrated newspapers and was so successful that it was produced in small scale and in six different sizes by the foundry Barbedienne. The statue of David is housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; another copy is located at the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse.

France.

19th century.

Dimensions:

Height: 70 cm

Depth: 21 cm