René de Saint-Marceaux

René de Saint-Marceaux studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris. Training under François Jouffroy is recorded. The recorded working language is French. Residence is recorded at Reims and Cuy-Saint-Fiacre. Work by René de Saint-Marceaux is recorded in the collections of Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy, Musée de la Vie romantique, Musée Carnavalet, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris and Musée d'Orsay. Distinctions recorded are Commander of the Legion of Honour.

He was born in Reims on 23 September 1845 to Alexandre Jean de Paul de Saint-Marceaux, a member of a noble family, and Emélie Isabelle Moriset. His grandfather, Augustin de Saint-Marceaux, served as mayor of Reims. At age eighteen went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. A student of François Jouffroy, he became primarily a sculptor of portrait busts and animals. He exhibited at the Paris salon from 1868, when, passing up the competition for the Prix de Rome, he decided to spend time in Florence instead. He passed a second sojourn in Italy in 1873–74. On his return, his marble Génie gardant le secret de la tombe ("Spirit Guarding the Secret of the Tomb"), conserved in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, shows the marked influence of Michelangelo. Among his works were several statues created for Baron Rothschild for his Château de Ferrières and the tomb at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris for Alexandre Dumas, fils. In 1891 René de Saint-Marceaux joined the newly formed Société des artistes français. In 1892, he married Marguerite Jourdain Baugnies and adopted her three children from her prior marriage. Saint-Marceaux was also a medallist, and a collector of Ancient Greek coins. In 1907 he was commissioned to execute the plaquette for the Société française des Amis de la Médaille. His bronze and granite monument for the headquarters of the Universal Postal Union in Bern, Switzerland (illustration) erected in 1909, represents the five continents as floating figures joined in transmitting messages around the globe. A postage stamp honoring the sculptor and the monument was issued jointly by Switzerland and France in 2009. René de Saint-Marceaux died in Paris in 1915.

• Illustration — Bust of Jean-Louis Forain, 1913, Musée d'Orsay, Paris • Illustration — Spirit Guarding the Secret of the Tomb, Musée d'Orsay, Paris • Illustration — Grand Deuil, 1903 • Illustration — Statue of Bailly, 19th century, Musée du Jeu de Paume • Illustration — La Jeunesse de Dante, Musée des beaux-arts, Reims • Illustration — UPU monument, 1909, Bern, Switzerland

The authorities additionally record the headings René De Saint-Marceaux, Charles-René de Paul de Saint-Marceaux, Charles René Saint-Marceaux, Charles René de Paul de Saint-Marceaux and René Saint-Marceaux. His recorded language was French. He married Marguerite de Saint-Marceaux. One child is recorded: Jacques Baugnies.