Count Alfred Emilien DE NIEUWERKERKE (1811-1892). Her Majest - Lot 184

Count Alfred Emilien DE NIEUWERKERKE (1811-1892). Her Majesty Queen Isabella the Catholic entering Granada. Spectacular equestrian and historicist bronze sculpture with brown patina. Salon of 1847. Paris. Presented on an elegant antique custom-built base in walnut veneer, black lacquer and brass. Our sculpture illustrates one of the major events in the reign of Isabella I (1451-1504), namely the start of the Reconquista with the recapture of Granada from the Muslims. As quoted by historian Joseph Perez: "The entry of the Catholic Monarchs into Granada on January 2, 1492, had a considerable impact throughout Christendom: bells rang in London, Paris, Italy..., in Rome, the celebrations lasted for several months... everywhere, the event was celebrated as a victory of the Cross over the Crescent, as a sort of revenge for the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453". Alfred Emilien de Nieuwerkerke, from a wealthy Dutch family, discovered his passion for sculpture during a trip to Italy in 1834, at the age of 25. He began his artistic career at the Salon of 1842 with the presentation of a marble bust of Comte Charles de Ganay. This was followed the following year by a plaster representation of William the Silent on horseback, acquired by the King of the Netherlands, the bronze model of which adorns one of the squares in The Hague. The sculptor's repertoire focused mainly on historical figures. Parallel to his artistic career, his proximity to the French government led to high political and cultural responsibilities: on December 25, 1849, he was appointed Director General of the National Museums, and in 1863, Emperor Napoleon III created for him the Superintendence of Fine Arts, a post he held until 1870. He was awarded the Légion d'Honneur on August 23, 1863, and became a senator a year later. It's worth mentioning the Count's excellent influence on the development of the Louvre museum. After the fall of the Empire in 1870, de Nieuwerkerke, who had been the patron of artists such as Rude, Carpeaux and Fremiet, sold his private collection to the famous English collector Richard Wallace and left France to settle in Italy, at the Château de Gattojola near Lucca, where he lived out his remaining years. Height: 103 cm. Total height: 146 cm. Sources: E. Benezit, dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs - Les bronzes du XIXème siècle Pierre Kjelleberg au éditions de l'amateur - Joseph Pérez, Isabelle et Ferdinand, rois catholiques d'Espagne, Paris, Fayard.