Julien Dillens

La Meuse, 07/08/1893, p.3: "celle de M. Dillens, constituera le prix d'honneur des armes de guerre et figurera, sous les traits d'une femme tenant d'une main un comblain et de l'autre unne palme: La Gloire Militaire"

The present bronze was commissioned as the prix d'honneur in the Grand Concours de Tir à la cible, section des armes de guerre (a national shooting championship) by La Commission permanente du Tir national, under the supervision of the Belgian government.

This bronze, referenced as La Gloire Militaire in a contemporary newspaper article of 1893, is a characteristic work of the Belgian sculptor Julien Dillens. The figure represents an allegory of war, wearing a similar helmet as Dillens' bust of Minerva and holding a rifle. The dynamic pose derives from his well-known work Allegretto (see lot 27). It is likely that the bronze is a unique sculpture, as no other casts have been documented.