Claude Dejoux
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Claude Dejoux | |
|---|---|
 Claude Dejoux. Medallion by David d'Angers | |
| Born | 23 January 1732 Vadans, Jura, France |
| Died | 18 October 1816 (aged 84) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Sculptor |
Claude Dejoux (23 January 1732 – 18 October 1816) was a French sculptor.
Claude Dejoux was born on 23 January 1732 in Vadans, Jura.
Descended from the Counts of Joux, Claude Dejoux was born into a family of poor farmers. He started work as a shepherd, but was soon apprenticed to a carpenter due to his love of sculpture.[1] He was apprenticed to the sculptor Guillaume Coustou the Younger (1716–1777), where he met Pierre Julien (1731–1804).[2] He became a close friend of Julien.[3] Dejoux was accepted by the Academy in 1778, and in 1779 was named Academician.[4] His morceau de réception for the academy was a marble sculpture of Saint Sébastien, 1.05 metres (3 ft 5 in) high, now held in the Louvre.[5] He became sculptor to King Louis XVI.[1]
Republic and empire
![](#/media/File:Claude_Dejoux_-_"L'Amour_et_L'Amitie"_(Love_and_Friendship)_-_Walters_27504.jpg)
The French Revolution began in 1789. In 1792 Dejoux was made an adjunct professor. In 1795 he became a member of the newly formed Institut de France. He was commissioned by the French First Republic to make a sculpture of Calinat, which is now held by the Louvre. Dejoux was professor of David d'Angers, and supported him when he applied for a scholarship from the town of Angers.[4]
After Julien's death in 1804, Dejoux made a mausoleum ornamented with his portrait, which was erected in the garden of the Musée des monuments français. In 1815 this monument was transported to the Père Lachaise Cemetery.[3][6] Dejoux was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.[1] In 1805–07 he made a bronze statue to General Louis Desaix.[7] The monument was erected in the Place des Victoires in 1810.[8] It was destroyed in 1814 during the Bourbon Restoration.[7]
Claude Dejoux died on 18 October 1816 in Paris, aged 84.
Works
A partial list:
- Saint Sébastien, marble statuette (1779), Paris, Louvre[5]
- Portrait of Marie-Christine Brignole, Princess of Monaco (1739–1813), terracotta bust (1783), Paris, Louvre[9]
- Statue that crowns the dome of the Pantheon, Paris
- His sculptures for the facade of the Pavillon de Place des Victoires in Paris were destroyed during the Second French Empire. All that remains is a fragment of marble bas-relief of Charity (1788)
- His monument of General Desaix (1808) for the Place des Victoires in Paris was destroyed in 1814.[7]
Pupils
Pupils included:
- David d'Angers (1788–1856)
- Charles-René Laitié (1782–1862)
- François-Frédéric Lemot (1772–1827)
- Nicolas-Pierre Tiolier (1784–1853)
