A bronze sculpture “Le roi Lear”
Cast bronze with greenish brown patina and granite plinth. A fully sculpted figure of a bearded man in a voluminous and dynamically draped garment striding forward with his right arm raised up in a pleading gesture and his left hand forming a fist. H 55.5, H with plinth 63 cm.
Victor Rousseau, circa 1905, cast by Jacques Petermann, Brüssel, circa/after 1906.
The bronze founder Jacques Petermann founded his own workshop in 1870 on É. Féronstraat in Saint-Gilles, Brussels. Until around 1902 he worked and signed with his own name, then the company name was changed to "Société Nationale des Bronzes", and from 1906 to 1967 the company was called "Fonderie Nationale des Bronzes". The company cast for numerous Belgian, French and Dutch sculptors, the most famous being Auguste Rodin.
Petermann produced copies of "The Burghers of Calais" and "The Thinker" for him, among others. Petermann also realized numerous bronzes for the sculptor and medalist Victor Rousseau (1864 - 1954), of which King Lear can certainly be considered the most impressive. The character King Lear refers to a legendary Britannic king of the pre-Roman times. William Shakespeare dedicated the play "The Tragedy of King Lear" to him. It was probably first performed at the English court in 1606, but has lost little of its relevance to this day.
Literature
Cf. Vanden Eeckhoudt, Victor Rousseau, Brussels 2003, p. 85 and 143.