Gloria Victis
Marius Jean Antonin Mercie
French (1845-1916)

Signed "A. Mercié"
Circa 1875

An important and highly recognizable bronze by renowned French sculptor Antonin Mercié, Gloria Victis (Glory to the Vanquished) is a remarkable work of art. Inspired by the onset of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the artist originally composed Fame supporting a victorious soldier, altering it to a defeated soldier upon France's surrender. Many suspect the fallen soldier to be the figure of Henri Regnault, a fellow sculptor who was tragically killed on the last day of the war. The assymetrical composition and dramatic, patriotic subject earned Mercié the Medal of Honor from the Paris