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Arthur Jacques Le Duc was born in Torigny-Sur-Vire on March 3rd, 1848 and died in Antibes on February 20th, 1918. He studied under Lenordez, Guillard, Dumont, Barye and Carolus Duran and exhibited at the Salon from 1878 onwards. He won third class medal in 1879 and got a silver medals at the Expositions of 1889 and 1900. He became a chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1906 and an associate of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in 1893. He specialized in animal and genre groups, such as Familial Piety, Standing Stag, Mare and Foal.
Lenordez and Barye trained this skillful animal sculptor at the école. Between 1873 and 1914 he exhibited a rather large number of bronzes at the Salon: Diane de Poitiers partant pour la chasse (1877). Centaure et bacchante (1879), and Le Baiser an equestrian group, 65 cm; Harde de cerfs écoutant le rapproché. A monumental group placed today in the Luxembourg gardens (1886), Au bois, an equestrian study (1887), Laitière normande (1888), and Ultimus pro patria spiritus part of the monument to the dead from Calvados (1889), Le Baron J. Finot (1912), and Un compagnon de Duguesclin, an equestrian statue (1914). It is also necessary to note some figures and studies in plaster, such as Porte-Etendard à cheval, a project for a monument to the armies of Reishoffen (1873), La Raison du plus fort, a group of horses (1874). Two groups representing hunting scenes (1875), and Horace Vernet sur la champ de bataille d'Isly, an equestrian statue (1913). Leduc also participated, from 1890 to 1907, at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts with some animals and equestrian portraits. Some are in plaster and others, quite numerous, in ceramic sandstone. He also made an equestrian statue of the Connétable de Richmond in bronze, destined for the city of Vannes.

MUSEUMS

Musée Versailles
"Leverrier" A marble bust, No. 4394 acquired by Le Ministère de l'Instruction publique et des Beaux-Arts, pour le musée de Versailles.

Musée de Beaux Arts, Rouen
Centaure et Bacchante (Click here to view <http://www.maicar.com/GML/000Free/000CENTAURS/source/5.html> )

Abbeville
Chien en arrêt devant une grenouille, 24 x 46 cm.

Caen
Centaure et bacchante, life size.

Cherbourg
Saint-Hubert.

Sens
Deux Chiens à l'attache, 37 x 43 cm.

Click here to view Guido Reni's (1575-1642) Version of "Dejanire enlevee par le Centaure Nessus" ("Daianeira Abducted by The Centaur Nessus") at the Musée du Louvre. <http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225131&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225131&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500816&bmUID=1163014323451&bmLocale=en>

Mythology and History:

"Deianeira Abducted by the Centaur Nessus" of c. 1600 is one of the finest casts to a design by Giambologna. He devised the composition in 1577 and entrusted its execution to his most important collaborator, Antonio Susini. This was an unusually popular bronze, as the large number of castings proves: owners of copies included Emperor Rudolf II and the French king Louis XIV. Karl Eusebius, too, delighted in the composition and acquired a cast from Giovanni Francesco Susini. The older casting, made by his uncle Antonio and of better quality, was acquired for the Princely Collections by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein in 2003.

It represents another of the exploits of Hercules: on his way to visit Ceyx, Hercules and his wife had to cross the river Evenus. The centaur Nessus usually helped travellers across, but on this occasion he tried to abduct Deianeira. This is the moment captured by the sculpture. Contemporaries were probably particularly impressed by the formal clash of forces that are pitted against each other. Dashing forward, the centaur turns back to keep hold of Deianeira, who tries to wriggle out of his arms. It is no coincidence that this creates a pose that advantageously presents the woman’s beauty to the viewer. The delicate patina lends her skin a soft glow that brings the perfect forms to lif