Marie-Anne Collot

Marie-Anne Collot (1748 – 24 February 1821) was a French sculptor. She was the student and daughter-in-law of Etienne Falconet and is most well known as a portraitist, close to the philosophic and artistic circles of Diderot and Catherine the Great.

Marie-Anne Collot was born in Paris and started to work as a model at the age of 15 in the workshop of Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne. He had a determining influence on her career as a portraitist. She then entered Etienne Falconet's workshop, who was a close friend of Diderot. She became Falconet's pupil and faithful friend. Her younger brother became an apprentice at the publisher's André Le Breton, who was one of the four publishers of Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie.

Her first works consisted of terracotta busts of Falconet's friends including Diderot, the actor Préville in the role of Sganarelle in “Le médecin malgré lui” by Molière, and Prince Dimitri Alexeievich Galitzine, Russian ambassador. Many other works are now lost.

From then on everyone recognised her talent, sincerity and lively spirit.

In October 1766 Marie-Anne Collot accompanied Falconet to St. Petersburg, when he was invited by Catherine the Great with a view to creating an equestrian statue of Peter the Great.

She sculpted the portraits of members of the Russian Court. They marvelled at the talent of this young woman sculptor, they could remember none other, and she was only 18 years old.

In December of the same year she presented her work to the Imperial Academy of Arts, of which she was elected a member on 20 January 1767.

She received a comfortable pension, which to her represented a fortune.

Collot sculpted a bust representing Falconet at Catherine the Great's request. This is now in the Museum of Fine Art in Nancy, France. She also requested a bust of Diderot in 1772. When Falconet saw its quality it is said that he destroyed the one he had made himself of Diderot. The bust is in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

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