La Paix (Peace)

As part of the ambitious renovation and expansion campaign undertaken at the Palais du Louvre and Palais des Tuileries in Paris during the Second Empire, Antoine-Louis Barye was commissioned to create four monumental stone groups for the façade of the Louvre: La Force and L’Ordre in 1854 for the pavillon Denon and La Guerre and La Paix in 1855 for the pavillon Richelieu. All four groups are still in situ today, and are regarded as some of Barye’s most important works (M. Poletti and A. Richarme, op. cit., p. 417). Subsequent to their installation at the Louvre in 1857, the figural groups were reproduced in bronze reductions by the Barbedienne foundry from 1877. Owing to its visible seams and joints, as well as its foundry signature, the present work is almost certainly the chef modèle in bronze for La Paix, used by the celebrated Barbedienne foundry to create a limited series of bronzes in this size, the grandeur originale. Despite the Louvre groups’ renown, the large bronze editions were not created in great number in the late 19th century, with the smaller reductions realizing greater commercial success. The present bronze is, therefore, an important rediscovery and addition to the œuvre of this celebrated sculptor, whose considerable skill extended – as the present work would suggest – far beyond the animalier realm in which he was so well known.

It is entirely conceivable that this sculpture was acquired by either the 1st or 2nd Earl of Dudley for one of the family’s grand houses, such as Dudley House on London’s Park Lane, Himley Hall, Staffordshire or Witley Court, Worcestershire. All three houses were palatial in terms of scale and grandeur, with the colossal Witley being purchased and remodelled by the 1st Earl in the Italianate manner with extensive formal pleasure grounds adorned with sculpture and pavilions centred on a great fountain.