Lot 85: A French Bronze of "The Soldier of Marathon

A French Bronze of "The Soldier of Marathon Announcing Victory", 19th c., after the 1835 original by Jean-Pierre Cortot (French, 1787-1843), now in The Louvre Museum, inscribed "F. Barbedienne Foundry, Paris" at back left, with foundry mark back right, inscribed "Cortot, 1834", height 25 in., width 29 1/2 in., depth 11 in. Note: In 490 B.C. the Greeks finally experienced a victory over the Persian army of Darius I. According to legend, the soldier Phidippides ran the 26 miles from the battle site of Marathon to Athens to deliver the news of the Greek triumph. In this sculpture, Cortot has chosen to depict the moment when the mortally exhausted soldier collapses at the city gates, using the last of his energy to raise aloft the palm of victory. A precocious talent, Cortot began his artistic training at the age of 13. In 1809 he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome which afforded him the opportunity to live and study in Italy; he was to remain in Rome for over a decade. Upon his return to Paris, Cortot regularly exhibited at the Salon. He was elected to the Institut de France, appointed an officer of the Legion d'honneur, and was offered a professorship at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Cortot first presented this design as a plaster model at the Paris Salon of 1822. In 1831 King Louis-Philippe, admiring the image of the hero sacrificing himself for the good of the country, commissioned a marble from the design. This marble version was exhibited at the Salon of 1834 and was eventually placed in the Louvre. Reference: Bénézit. Dictionnaire des Peintres, Librairie Grund, 1976, vol. III, p.195.