pierre le gros (1666 - 1719)
Pierre Le Gros was a French sculptor of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He is known as a representative of the Baroque style and a master of the religious genre. His best sculptures were created on the orders of the Catholic Church.
Pierre Le Gros had a close "genetic" connection with art on both his father's and mother's side. His father, a court sculptor of King Louis XIV, had the same name (which is why Pierre Le Gros is often referred to as "the Younger"). His two maternal uncles, Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy, and his half-brother Pierre Lepautre were sculptors.
Pierre Le Gros was rejected in his homeland, but managed to achieve great professional success in Italy, where today you can see most of his work.
Guillaume Coustou the Elder was a French sculptor of the Baroque and Louis XIV style. He was a royal sculptor for Louis XIV and Louis XV and became Director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1735. He is best known for his monumental statues of horses made for the Chateau of Marly, whose replicas now stand in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
