Antonin Mercié
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Antonin Mercié (1845-1916) was a French sculptor and painter who won the Prix de Rome at 23 and became one of the most celebrated academic sculptors of the Third Republic. Born in Toulouse, he studied under Alexandre Falguière and Jean-Paul Laurens at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
His Gloria Victis (Glory to the Vanquished, 1874), showing a winged figure carrying a fallen soldier, became a powerful symbol of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. The bronze was reproduced widely and cast for war memorials across France. Mercié also created the equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia (removed in 2021), and numerous portrait busts of prominent French figures.
Sculptures by Antonin Mercié
2 sculptures catalogued with museum locations. Browse all sculptures
Museums with Antonin Mercié's Work
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About Antonin Mercié
Gloria Victis (1874), showing a winged figure lifting a fallen soldier, became a symbol of French resilience after the Franco-Prussian War. Casts stand in several French cities and at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Bronze casts of Gloria Victis are at the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse. His Robert E. Lee equestrian statue in Richmond was removed in 2021 after years of controversy.
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