Focus on Ugolino and His Sons (Carpeaux) and explain the Production.
Carpeaux won the Prix de Rome in 1854. While in Rome, he stayed in the French Academy in Rome's Villa Medici and studied the works of Michelangelo. Carpeaux's Ugolino was prototyped on Michelangelo's works from three centuries prior, particularly his Last Judgment panel of the Sistine Chapel. The children's anatomy was based on naturalistic observation. He sketched dying children as part of his preparation. He was compositionally influenced by Laocoön and His Sons at the Vatican. Carpeaux completed the work in the last year of his residence at the French Academy in Rome.The sculpture was cast in bronze in 1863 by the French Ministry of Fine Arts and displayed in the Parisian Tuileries to accompany a replica of Laocoön. A marble version was completed in Paris under Carpeaux's supervision for the owner of the Saint-Béat marble quarry to exhibit at the 1867 International Exposition. This version was later acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Sistine Chapel New York City French Ministry of Fine Arts Villa Medici Michelangelo Prix de Rome French Academy in Rome Saint-Béat 1867 International Exposition Tuileries Laocoön and His Sons Ugolino Metropolitan Museum of Art