Guillaume Coustou
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Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746), brother of Nicolas Coustou, was a French sculptor of still greater merit.
He also gained the Colbert prize; but refusing to submit to the rules of the Academy, he soon left it, and for some time wandered homeless through the streets of Rome. At length he was befriended by the sculptor Legros, under whom he studied for some time.
Returning to Paris, he was in 1704 admitted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, of which he afterwards became director; and, like his brother, he was employed by Louis XIV.
His finest works are the famous group of the "Horse Tamers", originally at Many, now in the Champs Elysées at Paris, the colossal group "The Ocean" and the "Mediterranean" at Marly, the bronze Rhne which formed part of the statue of Louis XIV at Lyons, and the sculptures at the entrance of the Hôtel des Invalides.
Of these latter, the bas-relief representing Louis XIV mounted and accompanied by Justice and Prudence was destroyed during the Revolution, but was restored in 1815 by Pierre Cartellier from Coustou's model; the bronze figures of Mars and Minerva, on either side of the doorway, were not interfered with.
de:Guillaume Coustou d. Ä.