Antoine-Louis Barye (1795-1875)
Antoine-Louis Barye was born in Paris in 1795 and was thought to have lived his entire life in Paris and never left France. He was self-taught in the liberal arts and initially trained under his father, a goldsmith in Lyon. He went on to train with Martin-Guillaume Biennais (active 1800-1832), master goldsmith to Napoleon, fine arts sculptor François-Joseph Bosio (1768-1845) and painter Baron Gros (1771-1835). Throughout his career, Barye won a host of awards and made multiple commissions for the French government. Barye was the leading sculptor in the French group of artists known as Les Animaliers and a leading sculptor in France throughout his career. Barye passed away in 1875, and after an elaborate funeral to signal his high artistic stature, Barye was buried at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
