MASSON, François - b. 1745 Lyre, d. 1807 Paris - WGA

MASSON, François

(b. 1745 Lyre, d. 1807 Paris)

French sculptor, the pupil of Guillaume Coustou II. He received his first lessons of drawing at the age of 17. Possibly his teachers were the monks of his village, the monks of the abbey of Quadrant. He continued his studies with Guillaume Coustou in Paris. He was patronized by Bishop Charles-François de Broglie, who brought him to Italy where he remained for five years.

Masson specialized in the sculpture of busts and statues of famous men. His career was not interrupted by the Revolution.

Monument to Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Monument to Jean-Jacques Rousseau by

Monument to Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A popular figure during the period of the Directory (the French Revolutionary government) was Fran�ois Masson, an artist who emulated Houdon’s portrait style, but was more up to date in his handling of classical subjects. From 1793 onwards he was in Paris, where he had considerable success at the Salon, where he exhibited small mythological pieces. This led to him receiving a number of major commissions, among them, in 1799, a monument to Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is one of the most influential thinkers during the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe.

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