Lot 78: Hippolyte Alexandre Julien Moulin(French, 1832-1884): A patinated bronze model of 'Un Secret d'en Haut'

depicting Mercury whispering a secret to the head of Pan, modelled as a draped term, on a rectangular waisted plinth, signed to the base Moulin, and with a plaque inscribed "UN SECRET D'EN HAUT PAR MOULIN SCULPT", 100cm high

Moulin struggled financially and was therefore only able to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts for a year in 1855. He was then apprenticed to Auguste Ottin and later the great animalier sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. He exhibited contemporary busts in the Paris salons of 1857 and 1878. The present model was originally conceived in 1875 as a very large piece (170cm high) and was placed in the Les Jardins du Carrousel.

Related Literature: Les Bronzes Du XIXe Siecle, Pierre Kjellberg, Les Editions de l'Amateur, Paris, page 520.