Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié French, 1845-1916 Gloria Victis

bronze, mid-brown patina with gilt highlights, signed A. MERCIÉ, the base also titled GLORIA VICTIS, and with foundry inscription F. BARBEDIENNE, Foundeur, raised on an onyx socle bearing bronze plaque engraved J. KRETZSCHMAR/ SOUVENIR DE 20 ANNÉES DE SERVICES RENDUS/ AUX CAMRADES DES ARTS & MÉTIERS/ 21 OCT 1918, together with a gilt bronze mounted Greek Antique Green marble pedestal.

The Gloria Victis sculpture group was executed shortly after the Franco-Prussian War. Initially, Mercié planned the group to consist of Fame and a victorious soldier, but following France's surrender, he chose to depict a defeated soldier. Replicas of this classic composition were used on monuments to the dead of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 in many French towns, including Niort, Deux-Sèvres, Agen, and Bordeaux.