Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié 1845-1916 quand meme

bronze, rich brown patina, signed A. MERCIER and titled "QUAND MEME" , inscribed F. BARBEDIENNE/Fondeur/Paris and numbered 590 the A. Collas pastille.

RELATED LITERATURE:
P. Kjellberg, pp.488-490.

After the success of his celebrated bronze group Gloria Victis at the Salon of 1874, Mercié's best known work was the present allegorical group Quand Même, which was erected in 1884 on the place d' Armes in Belfort, in commemoration of the courage of the citizens of the town during the Prussian invasion of 1870. The original full-size plaster model was exhibited at the Salon in 1884 and due to its tremendous popularity, was subsequently cast in bronze in four sizes by Ferdinand Barbedienne.