Constant Lorichon

Neoclassicism was a movement, visually, that started around 1760 and ended around 1840. A large factor in its arrival was a renewed interest in Classical antiquity due to the recent archaeological discoveries of Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748). It was also a reaction against the prevailing frivolous and licentious Rococo style and was an eschewal of the values it represented. Neoclassicism intertwined with the Age of Enlightenment, which placed a deeper importance on science, reason and society over religion, superstition and irrational beliefs. Its views would ultimately lead to the French Revolution towards the end of the century.

‍

‍

It is within this context that the 20 year old Lorichon drew the present work based on the Roman sculpture, the Ares Borghese. Constant Lorichon was a student of Françios Forster and won the first prix de Rome in 1820. He would go on to exhibit at the Salon from 1824 to 1855, winning a second-class medal in 1827 and a first-class medal in 1836.
‍

The Ares Borghese housed, then and now, at the relatively new Louvre (founded 1793), was a piece that would have garnered plenty of attention not only due to the interest in the classical art and ideas at this time but also because it was recently acquired by Napoleon in 1807 just 13 years before. An imposing figure standing at 2.11m, it was sculpted in the reign of Hadrian (117-138 CE), and is identifiable as Ares by the helmet and by the given to him by his lover.