Jean-Baptiste CARPEAUX (1827-1875) Ugolin and his children - First sketch -1858 Sculpture in bronze with brownish green patina Model cast around 1930 from the plaster of the Villa MEDICIS H. 51, L. 33 cm PROVENANCE : - Collection of Henri DUNANT, sculptor resident at the Villa MEDICIS (Source: Galerie Univers Du Bronze, Paris) - Collection of Dr Étienne BERTHET, donated by the former in 1935, (Source: Galerie Univers Du Bronze, Paris) - Galerie Univers Du Bronze, Paris - Private collection, Paris NOTE : - A certificate of authenticity from Galerie Univers Du Bronze, Paris, will be given to the buyer. - Our sculpture is the bronze model of the first sketch of Ugolin and his children, the one proposed in plaster by the artist in 1858. It depicts Ugolin and three of his four children on the final model, and is thought to have originated from a mould made by the Valenciennes sculptor Lucien BRASSEUR on the original then kept at the Villa MEDICIS, from which our print comes, and was probably cast around 1930 (Source: Galerie Univers Du Bronze, Paris). - Ugolin et ses enfants is a masterpiece by CARPEAUX and one of the most famous sculptures of the 19th century. The artist, a resident in Rome, worked on this sculpture between 1857 and 1861. A first model in terracotta was made, then in plaster, the model for our sculpture. - A bronze was cast by THIEBAUT in 1863 and exhibited at the Salon of the same year. It was displayed for a time in the Tuileries gardens, opposite a replica of the bronze of the Laocoon by MICHEL-ANGE, and is now on display at the Musée d'Orsay (Paris). A marble version, produced for the 1867 Universal Exhibition, is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). - The story takes place in 13th-century Italy: Ugolin della GHERARDESCA, tyrant of Pisa, has betrayed the Ghibellines, who support the Emperor in his fight against the Pope, who is supported by the Guelphs. His rival, Archbishop UBALDINI, condemned him to be chained and walled up in the Tower of Hunger with his four children. Ugolin watches helplessly as they die, and must resist the temptation to devour them in order to survive. The story is recounted in the XXXIIIrd Canto of the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy. CARPEAUX, as he wrote to one of his friends, tried "to express in his work the most violent passions and to attach to them the most delicate tenderness. Each child represents a step towards death".