Aimé-Jules Dalou

The Pont Alexandre III, erected to commemorate the alliance between France and Russia, was conceived as a key monument for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. In 1898, Aimé-Jules Dalou was commissioned to produce two allegorical animal groups intended to adorn the piers on the left bank of the Seine, while Georges Gardet (1863–1939) was entrusted with the corresponding lions on the right bank. The contractual specifications required that these sculptural elements be executed in a style evocative of the reign of Louis XIV—an era regarded as formative in Franco-Russian diplomatic relations, particularly in light of its symbolic association with the age of Peter the Great. The lions, emblematic of imperial authority, are surmounted by putti bearing laurel garlands, thereby invoking the allegory of Fame.

The present sketch represents an intermediate stage in the conception of the sculptural ensemble, already integrated onto its architectural pedestal and approaching its final compositional form, including the addition of a coat-of-arms on the frontal plane. Dalou produced two preparatory wax models for the approval of the project’s architects (Petit Palais, inv. PPS264 and PPS265). Certain details of the present bronze - especially in the treatment of the mane and the garland - have been subsequently restored using brown-tinted wax. This example appears to be the only known bronze cast of this specific version of the group incorporating the pedestal.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Simier, Jules Dalou, Le sculpteur de la République: Catalogue des sculptures de Jules Dalou conservées au Petit Palais, exh. cat. Petit Palais, Paris, 2013, pp. 176-179