WGoA
MAZIÈRE, Simon - b. 1648 Pontoise, d. ~1721 - WGA

MAZIÈRE, Simon

(b. 1648 Pontoise, d. ~1721 )

French sculptor of whom little is known before his emergence around 1679 working at Versailles, where he was commissioned - together with Anselme Flamen and Claude Poirier - to produce statues for the Companions of Diana.

His other sculptures include two dignified, effective and symmetrical tombs, of Andre Blanchard de Saint-Martin and Noel Le Blond at Pontoise (Museum). In 1712 he was given the commission to complete the high-relief Gospel scenes along the exterior of the choir enclosure at Chartres, which had been begun in the early sixteenth century.

The Raising of the Cross
The Raising of the Cross by

The Raising of the Cross

In 1712 Mazi�re was given the commission to complete the high-relief Gospel scenes along the exterior of the choir enclosure at Chartres, which had been begun in the early sixteenth century. In such an impressive setting, amid so many competing claims for contemplation, Mazi�re’s scenes are perhaps little noticed by visitors today. Yet, as the largest of these, The Raising of the Cross, reveals Mazi�re achieved a near-Renaissance idiom, forceful and dramatic, by no means incongruous and quite free from any overly ‘decorative’ flourishes. Indeed, were his scenes not documented - to the years 1712-16 - they might pass as work of a much earlier period.

Send Postcard Learn More
Feedback