Hercules - Bronze, France at the end of the 18th century

Height: 67 cm
Width: 40cm

This beautiful and large bronze with black patina represents Hercules one of the most revered heroes of ancient Greece.
Standing and placed on a circular plinth, He leans on his club which is covered with leonté (skin of the Nemean lion). Is it possible that in his left hand he was holding the three golden apples from the Garden of the Nereids?
Our sculpture, by its style, its proportions, the modeling of the musculature and the finely chiseled details, directs us towards a French sculptor from the end of the 18th century.

And we can attribute it to: Guillaume Boichot (1735 Chalon-sur-Saône - 1814 Paris)

We know of a copy sold in New York at Doyle on 05/22/2019, lot: 28 (see link below)

The sculptor Guillaume Boichot was active in Burgundy and in Paris where from the Revolution, he carried out many works on behalf of the regime. His production (sculptures, paintings, drawings) is indicative of the diversity of stylistic trends that run through the art of the second half of the eighteenth century. Most of his works characterized by references to Antiquity or to Poussin undoubtedly relate to neoclassicism.
He first trained in painting and architecture, then joined an ornamentalist, Pierre Colasson.
In 1756, he tried his luck in Paris but quickly returned to Chalon where he worked on the decoration of private houses.
Boichot leaves, at his expense, for Rome. On his return to Chalon, he worked for the castle of Verdun sur Doubs, for the church of Saint Marcel lès Chalon, the Convent of the Benedictines of Dijon.
For the Pantheon, he executed a bas-relief (The Declaration of Human Rights) and a colossal statue (Hercules at rest).
In 1788, he was admitted to the Academy (probably with the figure of Telephus tearing an arrow ...).
In 1795 he was appointed professor at the Ecole Centrale de Autun.
After 1800, he moved to Paris and worked for the Colonne de la Grande Armée, for the Saint-Roch Church, the Bourbon Palace, the Luxembourg Palace.

Good condition.