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Title:
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Marshal Valee
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Artist: |
Baron Carlo Marochetti
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Sylvain-Charles Valée (1773-1846), who became Maréchal Valée
in 1837, was born in Brienne-le-Château,
where the young Napoleon Bonaparte rececived his military training, He joined
the Revolutionary army and, under Napoleon, distinguished himself at the Battle
of Jena. At the Bourbon Restoration, Louis XVIII retained his services as
Inspector General of Artillery. He was put on the non-active list in 1830 and
became a Peer of France in 1835, but returned to active service in Algeria in
1837, and subsequently became commander of the French expeditionary force. He
was given his marshal's baton after the siege and capture, on 13 October 1837
of the city of Constantine. Between 1837 and 1840 he
was Governor General of Algeria, where, at the end of his period in office, he was
confronted by an insurgency led by Abdel Kader. Amongst his various activities in retirement, betwee 1842 and 1844, the Marshal presided over a committee charged with centralising the subsciptions for Marochetti's equesrian statue of the Ferdinand d'Orleans for the Place du Gouvernement in Algiers.
After the Marshal's death on 15 Aug.1846, Marochetti was commissioned to
produce a statue of him by King Louis Philippe on 10 October 1846, for the sum
of 3,000 francs. This was paid to him on 4 January 1848. Probably because of
the 1848 Revolution, only this 1.98m plaster model was produced. However, the
existence of two plaster busts of Valée, signed and dated 1845, in the Musée
Girodet at Montargis, makes it clear that Marochetti had had the opportunity to
sculpt the marshal from the life. However, both the busts and the plaster
statue show an aged and gaunt though still dignified soldier.
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Material(s): |
Plaster
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Medium: |
Unassigned |
Finish: |
- |
Technique: |
- |
Genre: |
Unassigned
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Location: |
Versailles, Chateau de , , ,
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Colours: |
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Year: |
1847 |
Height: |
1.98 metres |
Width: |
0 metres |
Depth: |
0 metres |
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Key: |
6393 |
Acc. No.: |
6393 |
Col. No.: |
6393 |
Number of views: |
1045 |
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