Pierre-François Berruer

Pierre-François Berruer
Born	1733 Paris, France
Died	4 April 1797 Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Sculptor
Known for	Statues on facade of the Grand-Théâtre of Bordeaux.

Pierre-François Berruer (1733 – 4 April 1797) was a French sculptor. He is known for the twelve statues that decorate the front of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.

Pierre François Berruer was born in Paris in 1733. In 1754 he won the second prize of the Prix de Rome after Charles-Antoine Bridan (1730–1808) with his Le Massacre des Innocents. He won the first prize in 1756, tied with André-Jean Lebrun (1737–1811), with his Abraham et Melchisédech. This gained him a scholarship to the Villa Medici in Rome from 1758 to 1764. He was a pupil of Étienne Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) and René-Michel Slodtz (1705–1764). After returning to France, Berruer was admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1765.

In 1767 Berruer made a marble statue of Hebe holding a cup and vase for the Duc de Choiseul. In the Salon of 1771 Berruer exhibited a proposal for the tomb of Marshal the Comte de Harcourt in Nôtre-Dame, following the maudlin taste of the time. According to the Mercure de France, "Monsieur Berruer's plan for a mausoleum for the late comte de Harcourt has been conceived with warmth and will be viewed with interest, because it will make one consider the tender wife who throws herself in front of Death in order to save her husband from the blow that is about to be struck against him."

Berruer designed a long relief panel for the facade of the École de Chirurgie in Paris, built in 1769–74. The panel is placed above the entablature of the Ionic order and below the upper cornice. It shows King Louis XV of France, followed by Minerva and surrounded by the sick, commanding that the school be built. Architecture, Surgery, Vigilance and Providence are also depicted on the panel. After the church of Ste-Geneviève, the school was the most admired building of the period.

...
Wikipedia