Amédée Ménard

Amédée-René Ménard (16 October 1806 — 22 October, 1873) was a French academic sculptor and art teacher.

Amédée Ménard was born in Nantes, France, the son of René François Ménard, a timber merchant. He studied art with local sculptors and joined a workshop specializing in statuary. In 1825 he moved to Paris for further studies with the sculptor Étienne-Jules Ramey. He spent most of the following decade in Paris, where he showed regularly at the Salon, before returning to settle permanently in Nantes.

Ménard sculpted large statues of historical and mythological characters as well as some bas reliefs and architectural elements such as pediments. Most of his work was intended for public display outdoors or in churches, and much of his surviving work can be found in such locations. A few of his smaller pieces are in museums like the Angers Museum of Fine Arts.

He taught art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later in Nantes. Among his students in Nantes were the sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg and the painter Auguste Toulmouche.

Ménard died at home in Nantes and was buried in a nearby cemetery.

A street in Nantes is named after him.

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