GIRARDIN, zhe'rar'doxl, FRANgois (1630 1715). A leading French sculptor of the Court of Louis XIV. He was born at Troyes, March 17, 1630, the son of a bronze-founder, Nicolas Girardon. As a boy he entered the service of one Baudesson, a wood-carver and furniture maker, whose son was a painter of some im portance. Although intending to become a sculp tor, Girardon learned to paint, and at the age of fifteen decorated a chapel of Sainte Julie in Troyes. There is some good work of the Renais sance in Troyes, which was a source of inspira tion to the sculptor. His first work in sculpture was a statue of the Virgin in his native city. At this time the Chancellor Seguier undertook certain improvements at his Chateau of Saint Liebaut. Baudesson, who was employed on the work, took with him the young Girardon. Se guier became interested in the boy, and, as he had been with Le Brun, sent him to Paris and afterwards to Rome. In Rome, through the in fluence of the painter Pierre Mignard, also of Troyes, he came under the direct influence of Lorenzo Bernini, the greatest sculptor of that day. When Girardon removed to Paris in 1653 he came into relations with Le Brun, and worked under his powerful direction for many years. He entered the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, January 7, 1657, and in the same year married Catherine du Chemin, a painter of considerable skill, who was herself admitted to the Academy in 1663. In 1668 Girardon visited Rome a sec
ond time, returning to Paris in 1669. The role which he now played was a large one. He was lodged in the Louvre, was professor at the Acad emy (since 1659) and enjoyed the full favor of the Court. In 1695 he became chancellor of the Academy. The most notable works of Girardon were the monument of Richelieu in the Church of the Sorbonne, Paris, which Alexandre Neroir saved at the risk of his life in the Revolution, and the equestrian statue of Louis XIV., which once stood in the Place 'Vendome. The group of the "Rape of Proserpine" at Versailles may also be mentioned. There are many busts, bas-reliefs, and small works in the Louvre (Paris). Of his decorative work, done under the influence of Le Brun, there is a little in the Gallery of Apollo in the Louvre. The greater part of it, however, is grouped about the palace and park of Versailles. It is all interest ing, and some of it, like the nymphs in the bas reliefs of the "Baths of Diana," lovely and deli cate.
Consult: Corrard de Breban, Notice sur la vie et les oeuvres de Girardon (Paris, 1850) ; Gene vay, Le style Louis XIV. (ib., 1886) ; Gonse, La sculpture francaise (ib., 1895) ; Lambert, Versailles et les dews Trianons (ib., 1900).