Belgian, early 19th century

In 1807, Jan Robert Calloigne (1775 - 1830) won the Prix de Rome for his sculpture of Archimedes. The current piece, also depicting the Greek scientist, may well have taken its inspiration from this award-wining work. Calloigne was active in Antwerp and Bruges in the early 19th century. He spent extensive time in Rome, studying the work of his Classical and Renaissance predecessors and honing his own style, while working with another Neoclassical sculptor, Antoine-Denis Chaudet.

A marble sculpture of a seated Madonna and Child by Calloigne is in the Groeninge Museum in Bruges, and, although the subjects differ, the compositions of the two pieces are similar, with both featuring seated figures in a similar attitude with their heads inclined and gazes lowered.

RELATED LITERATURE

S. Lami, Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de L'École Francaise, Au Dix-Neuvième Siècle, Nendeln/Liechtenstein, 1921, p. 244.