“Flora” bronze by Mathurin Moreau

Beautiful bronze sculpture of “Flora”, Goddess of flowers, gardens, spring, and fertility in the Roman mythology. A butterfly is resting on her forearm, and she looks at it with tenderness. Dressed in a draped gown, she holds a basket of flowers. Signed on the terrace. Beautiful black marble base with gilt bronze ornaments.

Size: H 80 cm (70cm statue only) – base is 20 cm x 20 cm

French School of the second part of the 19^th century.

Lit:  The Moreau family is the most important dynasty of French sculptors. Mathurin is the 1st son of painter and sculptor Jean-Baptiste Moreau (1797-1855). He starts his scholarship at 19^th years old at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He wins the second price of Rome in 1842 with “Diomede enlevant le palladium” and will exhibit at the Salon from 1848, where we will be praised regularly. He will send numerous bronzes like « Fée aux fleurs » (flower fairy group, 140cm, in 1853), “Fileuse et l’étude” (the spinner and the study, in 1859), “Primavera” (Spring, in 1872). Mathurin’s work includes commemorative monuments, numerous statues and busts and ornamental sculptures such as the Marsan Pavilion in the Louvre or a fountain in the Place du Théâtre Français (La Nymphe Fluviale). His themes are pleasing and his success is considerable.