Abraham César Lamoureux

Abraham César Lamoureux (c. 1640, Metz – c. April 1692, Copenhagen) was a French sculptor and stonemason who worked in Sweden and in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for creating the first equestrian statue in northern Europe.

Life and work

Little is known about Lamoureux's early years. He was born in Metz in the Lorraine region of France, and he had a younger brother Claude, also a sculptor, as well as a younger sister Magdalena, Their father, whose first name is unknown, was a sculptor who had worked in the Netherlands, in England and in Hamburg, and might have been an assistant of the sculptor François Dieussart. when the latter entered service with count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, who was his stepfather's main employer and patron until around 1668. In the same year Lamoureux's mother, who was originally from Antwerp, died in Stockholm.

Around 1670 he was an apprentice of the sculptor Nicolaes Millich and lived with him in Stockholm's Bonde Palace, but absconded to Güstrow to his stepfather's brother Charles Philippe Dieussart,

In 1681, Abraham César Lamoureux and his family, including his brother Claude his sister Magdalena and her husband, the Swedish sculptor and stonemason Johann Gustav Stockenberg, moved to Copenhagen in Denmark (it has been speculated that Lamoureux was convinced to leave Swedish Service by Jens Juel)

Abraham César Lamoureux died in Copenhagen around April 1692 where he was buried in the Trinitatis Church on 27 April 1692. erected between 1687 and 1688 at Kongens Nytorv and originally made from gilded lead — the statue required frequent repairs due to metal fatigue caused by the softness of the lead, so the original statue was recast in bronze by Einar Utzon-Frank between 1939 and 1942 a marble bas-relief portrait medallion of king Christian V at Rosenborg Castle

Attributed works A number of other works have been attributed to Lamoureux. Among these are: a marble bas-relief portrait medallion of Christian V at Gisselfeld a Hercules statue from around 1691 at Borchs Kollegium, clearly inspired by the Farnese Hercules

Literature