François Joseph Bosio (Monaco 1768-Paris1845) - Henry IV, King of France

François Joseph Bosio (Monaco 1768-Paris1845) - Henry IV, King of France
Sculpture made in metal of golden hue. Signed on the back, on its base: “Bosio”. This work follows the model kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris made by François Joseph Bosio himself, who signs the Louvre original as “”BOSIO PREMIER SCULPTEUR DU ROI / SOYER CISELEUR / FONDU EN 1824 PAR ODIOT ORFEVRE":

https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010089377

The sculpture preserved in the Louvre Museum has lost both the scabbard and the blade of the saber carried by the king, so the work we are concerned with here takes on greater relevance by showing an original part of the work conceived by Bosio.

François Joseph Bosio (Monaco, 1768 - Paris, 1845) was a sculptor of Napoleon, Josephine and the First French Empire and Restoration. A student of Augustin Pajou, he realized in 1808 the bas-reliefs of the Vendôme Column (Place Vendôme, Paris) by order of Vivant Denon. He sculpted the quadriga that crowns the triumphal arch of the Carrousel. King Louis XVIII made him a knight of the Order of St. Michael in 1821. Later he made the equestrian sculpture of King Louis XIV for the Place des Victoires in Paris. He was named baron by Charles X in 1825.

Provenance:

France, private collection.

Ansorena Subastas; Painting and Decorative Arts, Madrid 7-11-2023, lot 902, p. 266.

Spain, private collection.

Dimensions: 68 cm (total height)