Pigalle, Jean-Baptiste

(1714-1785)

   sculptor

   Known for his lively naturalistic style, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, whose subjects ranged from the intimate to the formal, was born in Paris, where he studied with some of the leading sculptors of the period. He used his award from the prix de Rome to study in Italy (1734-39) and became later the protégé of Mme de pompadour, who gave him numerous commissions (L'Amour et l'Amitié, 1758). He completed the monument in the Place Royale and one in honor of louis XV in Reims (destroyed in 1792, later replaced). In the tomb of the Maréchal de Saxe (1753-76, church of Saint-Thomas, Strasbourg), and of the duke d'Harcourt (1774, Notre-Dame de Paris), Pigalle demonstrated his taste for grandiose and theatrical effects, as well as a profound tendency towards the baroque. But in his portraits (Diderot, Voltaire, nude statue of Voltaire), he leaned to a more personal and direct presentation of his subjects.