Alexandre Falguière, a sculptor born in Toulouse in 1831, won the first Grand Prix de Rome in 1859 and brought back from Italy his Tarcisius, a young martyr stoned to death, now to be seen at the Musée d'Orsay. He would be the official sculptor of the Third Republic. With Rodin it was esteem and rivalry: when the Société des gens de lettres rejected his rival's Balzac in 1898, it was to him that it entrusted the monument.
The story
Alexandre Falguière was born in Toulouse on 7 September 1831. First Grand Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1859 and a resident of the Villa Medici from 1860 to 1864, he drew out of his Roman years “Tarcisius”, the boy martyr stoned to death, whose 1868 marble now stands in the Musée d'Orsay.
A professor at the École des Beaux-Arts and a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1882, he became the official sculptor of the Third Republic: the “Triumph of the Revolution” on the Arc de Triomphe, “Asia” on the forecourt of the Musée d'Orsay, a bust of Victor Hugo, the Lafayette monument in Washington and the Gambetta monument in Cahors.
With Rodin he kept up a mixture of respect and rivalry: in 1897 he showed a bust of Rodin at the Salon, and Rodin sculpted his in return.
In 1898 the Société des gens de lettres, the writers' guild, refused Rodin's “Balzac” — a row the press likened to a second Dreyfus affair — and gave the commission to Falguière. He carried it out; posterity kept Rodin's.
He died in Paris on 19 April 1900, a few hours after coming back from Nîmes, where he had overseen the setting up of his monument to Alphonse Daudet — whose grave medallion, in Division 26, was his too. He lies in Division 4.
The grave
The perpetual plot was granted free of charge by prefectoral order, like those of Daumier or Baudry. The monument is by the sculptor Laurent Marqueste (1848-1920), who signs a marble high relief entitled “L'Inspiration”, beneath which appears a reproduction of Falguière's own “Tarcisius” — the sculptor is commemorated by his own early work. Four inscriptions share the stone, including that of his son, a major in the 4th Hussars who died in 1925. The sculptor's, “Alexandre Falguiere, 1832-1900”, has him born a year too late: the reference works give 7 September 1831.
On site, do not miss
The high relief “L'Inspiration” by Marqueste, and beneath it the reproduction of the “Tarcisius” — the early work that made his name.
Visitors' questions
Where is Alexandre Falguière's grave?
In Division 4, Avenue Principale, first row, in the lower part of the cemetery. The marble high relief “L'Inspiration”, signed Laurent Marqueste, marks it, with a reproduction of his “Tarcisius” below.
Félix FaureWhat are his best-known works?
“Tarcisius” and “Asia”, in the Musée d'Orsay and on its forecourt, the “Triumph of the Republic” on the Arc de Triomphe, the bust of Victor Hugo of 1885, and the monuments to Lafayette in Washington and to Gambetta in Cahors.
Alphonse DaudetWhat was his relationship with Rodin?
A mixture of esteem and rivalry: in 1897, each sculpted the other's bust. The following year, the Société des gens de lettres rejected Rodin's “Balzac” and handed the commission to Falguière.
Honoré de BalzacDid he leave any works in the cemetery?
Yes: the bronze medallion on Alphonse Daudet's grave, in Division 26, and a bronze bust of Marius Rouffiac. He died a few hours after supervising, in Nîmes, the installation of his monument to Daudet.
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