343 - 55-cm antique bronze

55-cm antique bronze Roman augur with raised finger After Jacques Edme DUMONT (1761–1844) Chiseled and patinated bronze sculpture H: 54.5 cm Distortions at the base Jacques-Edme DUMONT, born on April 10, 1761, in Paris, where he died on February 21, 1844, was a French sculptor. Son of the sculptor Edme Dumont, and father of the sculptor Auguste Dumont and the composer Louise Farrenc, Jacques-Edme first worked in Pajou’s studio beginning in 1775 before enrolling in 1777 at the École royale des élèves protégés, still under the direction of that same sculptor. After winning first prize in sculpture in 1788, he left for the Villa Medici in Rome that same year. Following a stay in Naples, he returned to France in 1793. During the Revolution, he tackled literary subjects such as *Paul and Virginie* and *Émile and Sophie*. He created a large number of sculptural groups, statues, and bas-reliefs for public monuments, including *General Marceau* (1804) at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, and *Pichegru* for the city of Arbois. In 1819, he created the statue of Malesherbes for the office of Louis XVIII. This statue would later be reused in the monument designed by architect Hippolyte Lebas for the Palais de Justice in Paris, which was inaugurated in December 1822. He also created busts, such as that of his mother (Louvre Museum) and that of General Causse (Palace of Versailles).