Detail of Gloria Victis by Mercie in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2022

Title: Gloria Victis

Artist: Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié (French, Toulouse 1845–1916 Paris)

Founder: Cast by Barbedienne Foundry (French, 1834–1954)

Date: modeled by 1874, cast before 1896

Culture: French

Medium: Bronze

Dimensions: wt. confirmed: 110.5 lb. (50.1 kg)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Lent by Marlborough Churchill, 1896

Object Number: O.L.89.IV

Mercié created this sculpture of a winged figure of Fame bearing aloft a fallen soldier in response to France’s humiliating loss in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The work’s title, engraved on its base, reverses the ancient idiom “Vae victis!” (“Woe to the vanquished!”), affirming the resurgent spirit of France in the face of defeat. The uplifting image of heroic sacrifice resonated with the French people, who lauded the monumental sculpture upon its 1874 Paris debut and purchased smaller bronze editions, like this version, produced by the Barbedienne foundry.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/208720