Claude Michel Clodion. December 20, 1738, Nancy - March 29, 1814, Paris) - French chamber sculptor.
Born in Nancy in a family of hereditary sculptors. The teachers were his father, the court sculptor of the Prussian king Thomas Michel, then, since 1755, in Paris, his uncle, Lambert-Sijisber, after whose death in 1759 Claude Michel entered the workshop of the famous sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In 1759 and 1761, he received the main prize and a silver medal, respectively, for his works exhibited at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In 1762 he left for Rome, where he spent nine years studying ancient art. The graceful plasticity of his chamber works: images of nymphs, erots, satyrs and bacchantes, corresponded to the tastes of the transitional style from Rococo to neoclassicism, which brought him fame in artistic circles, as well as many orders from art lovers from different countries. Empress Catherine II also acquired his works. Before inviting Etienne-Maurice Falcone to Russia, she, through her agents, persistently persuaded Clodion to come, but he preferred Italy. Upon his return to France in 1771, he was elected in 1773 to a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. The works of Clodion, despite their chamber and frivolous nature, were exhibited at the Royal Salon. They continued to be in demand until the historical conditions and tastes of French society changed during the period of the French Revolution, the Directory and the Empire style. Claudion continued to work until old age.