Background
Claude Michel was born on the 20th of December, 1738 in Nancy, France.
Claude Michel was born on the 20th of December, 1738 in Nancy, France.
In Lille Claude Michel spent the earlier years of his life. In 1759 he obtained the grand prize for sculpture at the Académie Royale. In 1761 he obtained the first silver medal for studies from models.
And in 1762 he went to Rome.
Claude Michel's activity was considerable between 1767 and 1771. Catherine II of Russia was eager to secure his presence in Street St. Petersburg, but he returned to Paris.
Among his patrons, which were very numerous, were the chapter of Rouen, the states of Languedoc, and the Direction generale. The agitation caused by the French Revolution drove Clodion in 1792 to Nancy, where he remained until 1798, his energies being spent in the decoration of houses.
Among Clodion"s works are a statue of Montesquieu, a Dying Cleopatra, and a chimneypiece at present in the Victoria and Albert Museum, (London).
One of his last groups represented Homer as a beggar being driven away by fishermen (1810). Clodion died in Paris, on the eve of the invasion of Paris by the forces of the Sixth Coalition.