GUILLAIN, Simon

(b. 1581 Paris, d. 1658 Paris)

French sculptor, son of Nicolas Guillain (c. 1560-1639), a wood-carver from Cambrai. He was trained by his father and studied with Alessandro Algardi in Rome, returning to France in 1612; he went on to become one of the leading sculptors of the reign of Louis XIII, rivalled only by Jacques Sarazin. Brought up in the craftsmanlike and realist traditions of late 16th-century French sculpture, he absorbed the influences of the Italian Baroque and through his pupils François Anguier and Michel Anguier helped to form the French classical style in sculpture. He collaborated with his father on a number of works, including a fountain (1613; destroyed) for the château of Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, and the praying figures of Président Jeannin and his wife Anne Guéniot (marble, 1626-27; Autun Cathedral).

His early independent works include the praying funerary effigy of Henri de Montpensier (marble, 1624-26) in the Sainte-Chapelle at Champigny-sur-Veude, Indre-et-Loire; the praying figures of Charles Bailly (reduced bust, marble, 1628; Versailles, Château), Bailly’s widow Chrétienne Leclerc (marble, 1628; Paris, Louvre) and Charlotte-Catherine de la Tremoille, Princesse de Condé (marble, 1629; Paris, Louvre). They reveal the development of a more fluid technique, broader composition and suppler gestures. He also produced at this time a number of tombs decorated with busts of the deceased, surviving examples including those of François de Montholon (marble, 1623; Versailles, Château) and Robert le Roux de Tilly (marble, 1639; Acquigny, Château), which is decorated with three funerary genii, evoking the art of François Du Quesnoy.

His main works were the statues for the monument of the Pont au Change. They were commissioned by the City of Paris to commemorate the presentation of the future Louis XIV to the people on April 21st, 1643.

Anne of Austria

Guillain’s only important surviving work in sculpture properly speaking is the monument erected on the Pont-au-Change in 1647, of which a relief and the three bronze figures of Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, and the young Louis XIV are in the Louvre. In their treatment of the metal they are a direct continuation of the method of Pilon, though the vitality of the Mannerist has given place to a rather conventional academic treatment of the drapery.

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Anne of Austria (1602-1666)

This is a statue from the monument of the Pont au Change in Paris.

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Louis XIII (1601-1643)

This is a statue from the monument of the Pont au Change in Paris.

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Louis XIV between Louis XIII and Anne of Austria

Simon Guillain was one of the founders of the Academy in 1648. The statues from the monument of the Pont au Change constitute the most important examples of the artist’s work. They were commissioned by the City of Paris to commemorate the presentation of the future Louis XIV to the people on April 21st, 1643. Set up at the entrance to the bridge, the group represents Louis XIV as a child, between Anne of Austria and Louis XIII. The figures were later removed to the Louvre. The style is influenced by the art of Germain Pilon and combines a rigorous realism with full monumental forms.

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The Infant Louis XIV

This is a statue from the monument of the Pont au Change in Paris.

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