RAMEY, Claude - b. 1754 Dijon, d. 1838 Paris

Sculptor, part of a French family of sculptors. He first studied at the Ecole de Dessin in Dijon, under François Devosges III. In 1780 he moved to Paris, where he studied under Etienne-Pierre-Adrien Gois. In 1782 he was awarded the Prix de Rome for sculpture, jointly with Pierre-Joseph Chardigny (1794-1866). From 1782 to 1786 he was a student at the Académie de France in Rome; returning to Paris, he exhibited at the Salons from 1793 to 1827.

He produced numerous portrait busts and statues, such as the marble statue of Eugène de Beauharnais (exhibited 1810 Salon; Versailles, Château). He also used Classical subjects, as in his marble statue of Sappho (1801; Paris, Louvre). Among his public commissions was the marble low relief of the View of Austerlitz for the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Paris, as well as sculpted decorations for the Louvre, the Palais du Luxembourg and other public buildings.

His son Etienne-Jules Ramey (1796-1852) was also sculptor.

Napoleon I in his Coronation Costume

Although Canova’s Napoleon statue (now in the Brera Milan) is not the only example of heroic nudity in France, the other statues of the Emperor were more traditional. Ramey in the Senate clothed Napoleon in his coronation costume, content to emphasize his majesty.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 51 minutes):

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) in E Flat major op. 55 (1803)