Lot number 3217 - Auction 150
'LE GÉNIE DU PROGRÈS / EXCELSIOR'

EMILE-LOUIS PICAULT 1833 Paris - 1915 ibid 'LE GÉNIE DU PROGRÈS / EXCELSIOR' Bronze, dark patina, on a naturalistic plinth. H. 70, W. 29, D. 35 cm. Inscribed 'Excelsior' on the left arm and 'E. Picault' on the back. Dynamic, towering representation of the allegory of intellectual and technical progress, a winged genius carrying a torch in his raised arm and a bundle of laurels with the inscription 'Excelsior' - Latin for 'ever higher' - in his other hand. Clothed in an antique-style robe blowing back in the wind, the figure strides over a figure lying on the ground, symbolizing the old and outdated. Partial loss of patina, bumped and rubbed.