Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert

Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert or Jean Pierre Antoine Tassaert (1727, Antwerp – 21 January 1788, Berlin) was a sculptor of Flemish extraction who, after a successful career in France, became a leading portrait sculptor in Berlin.

Life Training Tassaert was born in Antwerp where he was baptised on 19 August 1727. He trained in Antwerp and London. From 1744 he resided in Paris where he studied in the atelier of René-Michel Slodtz, a member of a dynasty of designer-sculptors of Flemish extraction working for the royal court. After Slodtz's death in 1764, he emerged as a sculptor in his own right. He exhibited frequently at the Salon, mainly showing small mythological and allegorical figures and groups. His work was well liked by the aristocracy and the Marquise de Pompadour was one of his patrons.

Career in Berlin Tassaert had married the miniature painter Marie-Edmée Moreau (1736–91) in Paris in 1758.

He commenced a period of intense artistic activity in Berlin. His first major works were four marble statues of Bacchus, a faun and two Bacchantes made for the great hall of the new rooms in the palace of Sanssouci. In addition to many smaller works for the royal palaces, Tassaert was commissioned by the king to make statues of General von Seydlitz and Field Marshal von Keith for the Wilhelmplatz in Berlin (the statues were replaced in 1857 with bronze copies made by August Kiss, the originals can be seen at the Bode Museum). Putti representing Painting and Sculpture, white marble ca 1774–78 also commissioned by Terray as one of four groups by various sculptors Cupid Preparing to Shoot his Arrow (Malmaison). Portrait bust of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715 - 1769). (Louvre Museum) Catherine the Great as Minerva Protectress of the Arts (Hermitage Museum). (attributed) Seated Venus Filling a Quiver with Roses, white marble (Musée Cognac-Jay, Paris).