From it’s presentation in 1874 through the present day, « Gloria Victis’, has always been highly admired for it’s aesthetic appeal and it’s patriotic recognition of heroism in defeat.
The bronze « Gloria Victis » is recognized by most to be Jean-Antonin Mercie’s best known sculpture. The work received great acclaim and won a medal of Honor when the plaster model was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1874, and cast in bronze by Barbedienne shortly after.
The plaster model for ‘Gloria Victis » was purchased by the City of Paris.
The same subject of greater size is at the entrance of the Petit Palais, in Paris.
Signed « A. MERCIÉ »; inscribed « GLORIA VICTIS », with the foundry mark « F. BARBEDIENNE, Fondeur. Paris », and stamped « mechanical reduction Achille Collas ».
This bronze group is in perfect condition, but it has remained several decades outside and has thus acquired a natural green patina, and gilding is slightly worn.
Biography
Antonin Mercié, France (1845-1916)
Antonin Mercié is a French sculptor and medalist.
Mercié was one of the most brilliant French sculptors of his generation and, as early as 1868, he received the Prix de Rome, soon followed by awards such as the cross of the Legion of Honor, the Medal of Honor of the Salon of 1874 (for his group « Gloria Victis »), and the Grand Prix at the Universal Exhibition of 1878. In 1900, he became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (where he studied in addition to the Académie de France in Rome) and in 1913, he was appointed president of the Society of French Artists.
To find out more, read this Wikipedia link.