Mathurin Moreau

This exuberant pair of Grape Harvesters epitomises the natural elegance and allegorical subject matter for which Mathurin Moreau was famous.

Born in Dijon as the eldest son of a distinguished and prolific family of artists, Moreau studied under his father, Jean-Baptiste, before entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Etienne-Jules Ramey and Alexandre Dumont. He won the second Prix de Rome in 1842 and received numerous other honors and awards throughout his life, such as the gold medal at the 1889 Exposition Universelle and the ‘Hors Concours’ at the Exposition Universelle in 1900. Mathurin also worked on prestigious public monuments, and his work is represented in several museums.

The Moreau family had contracts with major French foundries, which allowed them to cast a large number of bronzes. By contrast, major works by the family of sculptors in Carrara marble are comparatively rare.