Félicie de Fauveau

Félicie de Fauveau (Livorno, 1801 – Florence, 1886) was a nineteenth-century French sculptor who was a precursor of the pre-Raphaelite style. Her multiple sculptural works showcase a variety of techniques and mediums including marble, stone, glass and bronze.

Born in Tuscany in 1801, De Fauveau moved to France at the peak of the Restoration, after having spent her childhood in Florence. In Paris, she studied painting and sculpture and cultivated an interest in archeology and ancient symbolism, establishing a studio in Paris from 1826 to 1830, at 18 Rue de la Rochefoucauld, which was frequented by artists such as Paul Delaroche and Ary Scheffer.

After her participation at the Paris Salon in 1827, De Fauveau received ample acclaim. Stendhal called her the ‘new Canova’. One of the statues she presented at the event, Queen Christine of Sweden Refusing to Spare the Life of Her Equerry Monaldeschi, was awarded the gold medal, which the artist received from King Charles X, who looked to De Fauveau to promote the ideals of the Restoration. Her award-winning statue would also inspire Alexandre Dumas’s play Christine. In Paris, she subsequently received multiple commissions including bronze doors destined for the Louvre, a project that failed to reach fulfilment.

A dedicated Legitimist, who supported the return of the Bourbon king to France after the fall of Napoleon, de Fauveau was supported by Marie Caroline, Duchess of Berry. Both women organized failed resistance efforts in the Vandee region. De Fauveau hoped the crown would be captured by Marie Caroline’s under-aged son, the Count of Chambord. After two squelched uprisings in the early 1830s and six months in prison, De Fauveau joined her mother in Florence in 1834, where she vowed to remain in voluntary exile until the Count of Chambord was crowned king of France, a hope that never materialized.

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