Théodore Rivière

S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'École Française, Paris, 1911, p. 147 (probably)

This extraordinary sculpture of the Emperor Nero conjures up an images of the debauched extravagance of the Roman Emperors. The model was exhibited by Rivière in the Paris Salon of 1903. Given the fact that this is a rare marble by Rivière it is likely that it is the very one exhibited by the sculptor. Rivière studied at the École des Beaux Arts under Jouffroy and Falguière, going on to spend five years working in the studio of Mercié. For a time Rivière lived in Carthage, and it was from here that he sent his two Orientalist groups based on the story of Salambô to the Salon in 1894 and 1895, with great success. He was best-known for small scale works and orientalist subjects, but also produced monumental works such as his marble group Les Deux Douleurs exhibited at the Salon of 1903.