CHAPU, HENRI (1833-1891), French sculptor and medal list, born in Le Mee (Seine et Marne) on Sept. 29, 1833. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Pradier and Duret, and, having gained the Prix-de-Rome in 1855, spent five years in Rome. He was famous as a portrait medallist, and he executed many portrait busts and monuments; his statuary representing allegorical and mythological figures is sincere in feeling and poetical in conception.
His first success was attained by a figure of "Mercury" (1861, Luxembourg museum, Paris) ; then followed "The Sower" (1865) ; the "Nymph Clythia" (1866, Dijon museum). His fame was established by his statue of "Jeanne d'Arc" (1870, Luxem bourg museum), representing her as a simple peasant kneeling in prayer. In 1872 Chapu undertook the monument to Henri Regnault with the fine figure of "Jeunesse" in the courtyard of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1877 he sculptured the tomb of the Contesse Agoult (Daniel Stern) at Pere Lachaise, and in 1887 he completed the monument to the archbishop Dupanloup. Among his portrait work may be mentioned Leon Bonnat (1864) ; Alexandre Dumas (1876) ; the bronze of J. E. Schneiders (1878) at Le Creuzot; the monument to the Galignani brothers (1888), representing them in modern costume, which was then an innova tion and excited much comment, and the bust of Alexandra, princess of Wales. The monument to Flaubert, with an allegorical figure of "Truth," is his last important work. Chapu died in Paris on April 21, 1891. The museums of Rouen and Bayonne contain a number of his drawings.
See O. Fidere, Chapu, sa vie et son oeuvre (1894).