RICHARD CCEUR DE LION.

energy is associated with great refinement, and the expression is admirably suited to the statesman whosejudicious policy gave peace to his country, after he had proved his prowess in the field.

Marochetti ’s success in the execution of this statue greatly enhanced his popularity, and led to hisemployment on some important works during the most prosperous days of the reign of Louis Philippe .The reputation he acquired in these commissions accounts for the fact that, in the year 1844, he was invitedto undertake the execution in bronze of the colossal equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington at Glasgow .In the performance of the task thus confided to him, he has been scarcely less successful than in the workabove described. He has, however, given to both the horse and its rider a more tranquil action, harmonisingwith the quiet determination and advanced age of the great British commander. The bas-reliefs on the baseof this monument, in the principal of which are embodied incidents from the battle of Waterloo and thecampaign in Egypt , are among the most successful and spirited bas-reliefs ever executed in metal in thiscountry.

On his return to Paris, about three years later, the Baron Marochetti received his most importantcommission from Louis Philippe, who directed him to prepare a statue of the Emperor Napoleon , to be placedupon the esplanade of the Hotel des Invalides. Marochetti has moulded this subject three times the size of life,and invested it with a breadth and grandeur of style corresponding with its elevated character, and the scaleon which it is designed. The severe lines formed by the Imperial robes, and the composed dignity of thefigure, contrasted with the vigorous action of the horse, admirably suggest the colossal intellect which could situnmoved while all was heaving in action beneath. This statue is thirty feet in height, from the head of theEmperor to the hoofs of the horse, and is of the same dimension in length. In February, 1848, the modellingof this figure was just completed, and the Baron was from day to day expecting instructions for casting itin bronze, but the disastrous revolution of that year interfered with the realisation of his hopes, and compelledhim to seek tranquillity in this country.

With an energy undiminished by his reverses, Marochetti vigorously set to work in England, and com-menced the splendid statue which forms the subject of our illustration. Certainly no living, and probablyno ancient sculptor, has been enabled to carry out so important a series of large equestrian compositions.

In addition to the great works to which we have, alluded, an infinity of groups, single figures, and busts,of smaller size but equal beauty, have issued from the atelier of the Baron; and these have been disseminatedmore particularly in France . One of his most important works in marble is a group representing “TheAssumption of the Magdalen,” who is borne upwards by a number of angels. This great composition forms oneof the most striking ornaments of the Church of the Madeleine at Paris . In the same beautiful buildinghe also executed two angels, standing at the sides-of the principal altar, in the front of which he has alsointroduced a marble bas-relief of “ The Last Supper .” A figure of an angel, forming the principal pinnacleof the Church of St. Germain FAuxerrois, is also a work of much spirit and grandeur ; and among theportrait statues of heroic size which have added to the reputation of Marochetti , we may particularly mentionthe figures of Bertholet, the celebrated chemist of the Empire, and Latour d’Auvergne, the premier grenadierof France .

It is to he hoped that the genius of Marochetti will not be unappreciated in this country, and that the noblestatue of “ Richard Coeur de Lion” may not be suffered to remain in plaster, confined within the limits ofthe artist’s studio.