CLAUDE

See also:

• MICHEL
• CLAUDE MICHEL
• MICHEL, FRANCISQUE XAVIER (1809-1887)

MICHEL  , known as CLODION (1738-1814), French sculptor, was born on the loth of December 1738 in Nancy . Here and probably in Lille he spent the earlier years of his life . In 1755 he came to Paris and entered the workshop of Lambert Sigisbert Adam, his maternal uncle, a clever sculptor . He remained four years in this workshop, and on the death of his uncle became a pupil of J . B . Pigalle . In 1759 he obtained the grand prize for sculpture at the Academic Royale; in 1761 he obtained the first silver medal for studies from models; and in 1762 he went to Rome . Here his activity was considerable between 1767 and 1771 . Catherine II. was eager to secure his presence in St Petersburg, but he returned to Paris . Among his patrons, which were very numerous, were the chapter of Rouen, the states of Languedoc, and the Direction generale . His works were frequently exhibited at the Salon . In 1782 he married Catherine Flore, a daughter of the sculptor Augustin Pajou, who subsequently obtained a divorce from him .

The agitation caused by the Revolution drove Clodion in 1792 to Nancy, where he remained until 1798, his energies being spent in the decoration of houses . Among Clodion's works are a statue of

Montesquieu, a " Dying Cleopatra," and a chimney-piece at present in the South Kensington Museum . One of his last groups represented Homer as a beggar being driven away by fishermen (181o) . On the 29th of March 1814 Clodion died in Paris, on the eve of the invasion of Paris by the allies . Thirion's Les Adam et Clodion (Paris, 1885) contains a list of the sculptor's works sold between 1767 and 1884 . See also A . Jacquot, Les Adam et les Michel et Clodion (Paris, 1898) .