Jean-Jacques Caffieri
Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, 1784 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) - behind Caffieri is a reduced version of his statue of Pierre Corneille, from a series of the "Great Men of France." Jean-Jacques Caffieri (29 April 1725 – 22 June 1792) was a French sculptor. He was appointed sculpteur du Roi to Louis XV and later afforded lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre. He designed the fine rampe d'escalier which still adorns the Palais Royal.
Also recorded as Jean-Jacques Caffiéri · Jean Jacques Caffieri · J.J. Caffieri · M. Caffiery
Jean-Jacques Caffieri

Jean-Jacques Caffieri · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection · Public Domain Mark
- Born
- 1725 · Paris.
- Died
- 1792 · Paris.
- Nationality
- France
- Occupation
- sculptor · artist
- Fields
- art of sculpture
- Teachers
- François Lemoyne
- Languages
- French
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Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, 1784 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) - behind Caffieri is a reduced version of his statue of Pierre Corneille, from a series of the "Great Men of France." Jean-Jacques Caffieri (29 April 1725 – 22 June 1792) was a French sculptor. He was appointed sculpteur du Roi to Louis XV and later afforded lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre. He designed the fine rampe d'escalier which still adorns the Palais Royal.
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Note VALÉORINE
Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725–1792) was an artist and sculptor, of French nationality. The artist was born and died in Paris.
Jean-Jacques Caffieri worked in Paris. Activity centred on art of sculpture.
Languages used include French. Works are held at Art Institute of Chicago, Belvedere and Minneapolis Institute of Art, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q3107836 · wikipedia · Jean-Jacques Caffieri
In this article
Life
Life
He is better known for his portrait busts, in terracotta or marble: his bust of Madame du Barry is at the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. He made a name with his busts of Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine for the foyer of the Comédie Française.
Training under François Lemoyne is recorded. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is art of sculpture. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Work by Jean-Jacques Caffieri is recorded in the collections of Nationalmuseum, Belvedere, Art Institute of Chicago, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
He was born in Paris and came from a family of sculptors from Italy, who had moved to France during cardinal Mazarin's regency. His father Jacques Caffieri and his elder brother Philippe Caffieri were also sculptors. Jean-Jacques remained unmarried and had no children. A pensionary at the Villa Medici in Rome from 1749 to 1753, as well as a student of François Lemoyne, he joined the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in France in 1757. He produced bust or portraits of many great men, notably Pierre Corneille, Thomas Corneille, Philippe Quinault, Jean de la Fontaine and Jean-Philippe Rameau, as well as the monument to Richard Montgomery in St. Paul's Chapel in New York City. His students included Jean-Joseph Foucou.
Works
Works
• Sculptures by Caffieri • Buste of the comte de Muy (Louis Nicolas Victor de Félix d'Ollières) by Jean-Jacques Caffieri at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (1776) • Portrait bust of a young woman, terra cotta (California Palace of the Legion of Honor)
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1770, Portrait bust of a young woman, terracotta, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri (attributed), Virgin and Child, Church Saint-Antoine, Compiègne, Oise, Picardie, France • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri, Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière (1622-1673). Marble, exhibited at the Salon of 1787. Department of Sculptures, Richelieu wing, ground floor, room 29, The Louvre, Paris • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1779, Pierre Corneille, 140 cm x 92 cm, terracotta, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Normandy, France • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1762, Alexis Piron, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, Dijon, France • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Caffieri, ca.1760, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, Dijon, France

Benjamin Franklin. Line engraving by T. Holloway, 1791, after J. J. Caffiéri, 1777., 1791, by Jean-Jacques Caffieri
Jean-Jacques Caffieri · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
Life and career
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Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1725
Jean-Jacques Caffieri was born on 30 April 1725.
1792
Jean-Jacques Caffieri died on 22 June 1792.
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reference work
- “Jean-Jacques Caffieri”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3107836: Jean-Jacques Caffieri
General reference · Wikidata
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Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Auguste Jal, Dictionnaire Critique de Biographie et d'Histoire, Paris, 1867
- Extract from Jal's biographical dictionary
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The authorities additionally record the headings Jean-Jacques Caffiéri, Jean Jacques Caffieri, J.J. Caffiery and Caffieri. His recorded language was French. Connected to 2 other published records in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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