Marius Jean Antonin Mercié was born in Toulouse on October 30th 1845 and death in Paris on December 13th 1916 , he was French sculptor and painter.
He entered the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts , Paris
and studied under
Alexandre Falguière and
François Jouffroy , and in
1868 gained the Grand Prix
de Rome at the age of 23.
His first great popular successes
were the "David Vainqueur" and
"Gloria Victis" , wich was shown and
received the Medal of Honour of the
Paris Salon in 1872.

Bronze "DAVID VAINQUEUR" of Marius Jean Antonin Mercié with a brown patina
Signed  A.Mercié and the F.Barbedienne Fondeur foundry mark
Height  29.13 inch

The plaster model was shown in 1872 at the Paris Salon
and the Exposition Universelle of Paris in 1900
A marble model was shown in 1889 at the
Exposition Universelle of Paris

Exposition

Exposition Universelle : Welt-Ausstellung 1873 in Wien, Vienne, Autriche, 1873

Exposition Universelle, Paris, France, 1878

Rodin Rediscovered, Washington, Etats-Unis, 1981

From Courbet to Cézanne, a new 19th century - Preview of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, New York, Etats-Unis, 1986

From Courbet to Cézanne, a new 19th century - Preview of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Dallas, Etats-Unis, 1986

Paris-Bruxelles/Bruxelles-Paris, Paris, France, 1997

Paris-Bruxelles/Bruxelles-Paris, Gand, Belgique, 1997

Historique

1872, acquis après commande

1874, attribué aux Musées nationaux

à partir de 1874, au musée du Luxembourg

attribué au musée du Louvre

à partir de 1927, au musée du Louvre (reversement du musée du Luxembourg)

1986, affecté au musée d'Orsay

The bronze "David Vainqueur" was one of this most popular works.
The biblical hero is depicted naked with the head of Goliath at his feet
like Donatello's David , but with a turbanned head and sheathing his
long sword. The bronze was subsequently placed in the square
Montholon in Paris. Mercié signed for 100 original models cast by
Barbedienne.

PARC  DE  BUZENVAL ( Hauts-de-Seine)
Speech by Marius Jean Antonin Mercié
at the inauguration of the new bust of the
painter Henri Regnault (1843-1871)

 Marius Jean Antonin Mercié
in his studio painting in 1908.

Among the paintings displayed by Mercié,
the painting "Vénus" gets a Medal at the
Salon of 1883 , "Leda" (1884)  and
Michelangelo studying anatomy (1885)
be his most expressive.