Gloria Victis

The full-size plaster model of Gloria Victis was exhibited at the Salon of 1874, winning the Medaille d'Honneur and critical acclaim. It was then purchased by the City of Paris for the sum of twelve thousand francs and then cast in bronze by Victor Thiébaut for eight thousand francs. The original bronze is now placed in a central courtyard at the Hotel de Ville. The plaster version was re-exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878, alongside bronze reductions of the group by Barbedienne. Mercié's modern sculpture had become an instant classic, even receiving an entry in the Nouveau Larousse Illustri. The success of the group undoubtedly lay in the fact that it was admired not just on an aesthetic level, but also on a patriotic level, particularly in its commemoration of heroism in defeat. Critics also marvelled at the compositional daring of the group, balancing as it did two figures on the minimal support of one foot.

See P. Kjellberg, Les Bronzes du XIXe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 489 for a smaller example.