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&® FELICIE DE FAUVEAU.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
*&S~ Fresco Enteeing Over Florence Tlie ...
varied and profound : ancient history , languages classic and modern , archaeology and heraldry . To these last she has always iven
particular attention . The feudalchivalricand mediaeval g traditions with which such studies abound , have bee , n traced bher with the
greatest diligence and eagerness , , and she has reproduced y and utilised the knowledge so acquired with judicious zeal . During her
residence in _Besangon she executed some oil paintings which were much praised , but she seems to have felt that canvass was not the material
which would most fully express her ideas . But how to model was the question . One dayin her dailwalkshe paused before the
shop of one of those w , orkmen who y carve , images of virgins and saints for village churches . Inspired by an irresistible desire , she
entered and after some questioning learnt what she wished . The secrets of modelling * in clay or wax , of carving wood or gold were
hers . On her father's death , the family , consisting of the widow , her two sons and three daughterswere in some distress .
Mademoiselle de Fauveau immediately resolved , to devote herself and her talents to the support of her famil . Some of her friends
expostulated with her on this determination y as unbecoming for one who belonged to a noble family .
" Unbecoming , " said she , drawing herself up with a noble pride , " sackez _qitun artiste tel que moi est gentilhomme "
So great and varied were her gifts that she would have distinguished herself in any career , but her vocation was decidedly for
the plastic art . She has peculiarly the genius of color , and might have been a great painterbut she resolved to be a sculptor . Not
, according to the classical dogma however , but in the mediaeval manner . Benvenuto Cellini was her prototype , and her own genius
strongly assimilates to his . Like him she has occupied herself with her art , not only in its monumental , but also in its decorative
character . The first work she exhibited was a from The Abbot' ( Walter
Scott ' s novel ) . It was much praised group . Encouraged ' by this success , her next effort was a basso relievo consisting of six figures :
Christina of Sweden and Monaldeschi in the fatal gallery of Fontainebleau . This work was in the last Exposition des Beaux Arts
and it received from Charles X ., in person , the gold medal awarded , to it by the jury . The dramatic energy of the group , the expression
of each individual figure and the beauty of the minor details of the work were universally admired , and it was hailed as offering the
brightest promise of future excellence . The triumphant artist was at that time a girl in the bloom of her earliest youth , and flattered
and delighted at the appreciation" she had met with , it is not to be wondered atthat her resolution to adhere to her elected career was
steadfast and , irrevocable . Up to 1830 Mademoiselle de Fauveau remained in Paris with her
family . Her mother's house was the centre of a delightful circle of
persons of high rank , of clever women , and of accomplished artists ,
&® Felicie De Fauveau.
_&® _FELICIE DE FAUVEAU .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1858, page 86, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101858/page/14/
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