François Rude was born in Dijon, where his taste for opulent homes and beautiful, robust things was expressed in art with full forms that were always close to the truth. By chance, he attended a drawing prize-giving ceremony and his vocation was decided. At the age of 26, he was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome, apparently subject to the academic art of his time. Abandoning mythology for the spectacles of the street, François Rude asserted his naturalist temperament, particularly in his busts. He was not a spontaneous artist; he meditated on his work and drew his inspiration from nature to bring out its ideal expression. Rude’s work certainly bears witness to his talent, but perhaps it would be less vivid if he had not created “Le Départ des Volontaires de 1792” for one of the pillars of the Arc de Triomphe, where the artist, consecrated by fame, was able to keep intact in himself the emotion and wonder of the child who, in Dijon, witnessed the rising of the armies of the Revolution.
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