Allegory of the Maréchal de Villars’s Victory at Denain

Pierre Philippe Thomire|Louis Simon Boizot

1806, modified 1818 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This composition, first cast with Napoleon's head, was originally designed to celebrate the French victory at Austerlitz. After the emperor's downfall and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814, the bronze sculptor Thomire reconfigured the group with the head of the maréchal de Villars in order to represent the great ancien régime strategist's victory over the Austrians at the 1712 battle of Denain (War of the Spanish Succession).

Artist

Pierre Philippe Thomire|Louis Simon Boizot

Date

1806, modified 1818

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French, Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Claus von Bülow Gift, Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Paterson Gift, Bequest of Louis Einstein, by exchange, Rogers Fund and funds from various donors, 1978