Lot number 3271 - Auction 160
'ALLÉGORIE DE LA COMÉDIE' - NACH DEM MONUMENT À ÉMILE AUGIER

LOUIS-ERNEST BARRIAS 1841 Paris - 1905 Paris 'ALLÉGORIE DE LA COMÉDIE' (Allegory of Comedy) - AFTER THE MONUMENT TO ÉMILE AUGIER Brown-patinated bronze on a rectangular plinth, with a marble stele. Height 89 cm (figure height 81 cm), width 34 cm, depth 28 cm. Signed 'E. Barrias' on the side; dedication inscribed on the stele. A reduced-scale version of the 'Allegory of Comedy' from the monument to Émile Augier created by Louis-Ernest Barrias. It depicts a young woman in classical-style drapery inscribing text with a stylus onto a tall, rectangular marble stele. The inscription on the stele reads: 'A NESTOR DENIS / REDACTEUR EN CHEF DU 'MEMORIAL DES VOSGES' / SOUVENIR DE 18 ANNÉES DE LUTTES / POUR LA REPUBLIQUE, LA LIBERTÉ ET LA PATRIE / 1889-1907'. The original monument honoring the French playwright Émile Augier (1820-1889) was unveiled in 1895 at the Place de l'Odéon in Paris. Several allegorical figures were positioned at the foot of Augier's bust; the figure of Comedy is shown inscribing Augier's name onto the base, while the seated figure represents Clorinde, the heroine of Augier's play *L'Aventurière*. The original bronze monument was melted down in 1942. In the present instance, this well-known figure model was utilized for a commemorative bronze dedicated to Nestor Denis, editor-in-chief of the *Mémorial des Vosges*. Shows minor knocks and rubbing; loss of patina; marble stele is loose. Provenance: Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.