Louis Merley

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Louis Merley (born January 7, 1815 in Saint-Étienne , † September 17, 1883 in Paris) was a French sculptor and medalist.

Merley 20 franc coin

Life

His studies at the École des Beaux-Arts lasted from 1839 to 1843. There he was a student of André Galle , Pierre Jean David d'Angers and James Pradier . In his senior year he won the Prix ​​de Rome in the category for engravings, medals and sculptures. Thanks to the scholarship, Merley spent the next five years in Italy and did not return to Paris until 1848. In 1848 he immediately won first prize in the concours des monnaies (competition for coins). These designs were then put into circulation three years later as 10 and 20 francs gold coins. He took part in this competition several times, not entirely without success, and in 1851 he achieved second place and mentions in 1857, 1861 and 1863.

His work was diverse. From political issues such as the subjugation of Algeria to the February Revolution to portraits. For example, a portrait of Maréchal Bugeaud for the Coin Commission or a medal for the Ministre d'État entitled The Discovery of Nineveh and the Pacification of Algeria . The medals mentioned above were then exhibited alongside new works at the 1855 World's Fair. His works were not limited to coins, but also marble and stucco for building decoration in half relief. So he contributed his part to the furnishing of the Palais Longchamp in Marseille and the Tribunal de Commerce in Paris. He also designed and executed private commissions, such as a marble plaque with the bust of Georges Diebolt on his tombstone on the Cimetière Montparnasse . He was also invited to exhibit at the Salon de 1857 and at the World Exhibition in 1867 .

Most famous student of Merley was Alfred Borrel

Works (examples)

Sculptural

  • La Chasse (the hunt) on the gable of the Pavillon de Marsan ( Louvre )
  • La Justice entre la Vérité et la Force , pediment of the Palace of Justice of Saint-Étienne (destroyed in 1935).

Medals

  • La découverte de Nineveh , 1853, bronze
  • Le voyage de Napoléon III en Algérie en juin 1865 , bronze, Paris, Musée d'Orsay
  • L'inauguration du Palais Longchamp à Marseille , 1869, bronze.

Honors

  • 1866 nomination for Knight of the Legion of Honor
  • One street in Stainte Etienne is called Rue Louis Marley

literature

  • G. Vaperau: Dictionnaire universel des contemporains: contenant toutes les personnes notables. Hachette, Paris 1880, p. 1278 ( gallica.bnf.fr ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Le Rappel. January 3, 1883 ( digitized ).
  2. ^ The Quarterly Review. 1858, volumes 103-104, p. 133, previewed on Google Books , accessed October 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ G. Vaperau: Dictionnaire universel of contemporains: contenant toutes les personnes notables. Hachette, Paris 1865, p. 1232 ( digitized ).
  4. ^ Stanislas Lami : Georges Diebolt. In: Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au dix-neuvième siècle. Volume 2: D-F. H. Champion, Paris 1916, p. 195 ( digitized version ).
personal data
SURNAME Merley, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French medalist
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Etienne
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1883
Place of death Paris