Louis Le Masson, François Masson : Deux Frères Architecte Et Sculpteur

The talents of Louis Le Masson and his brother François Masson shone through the tumult of the events that shook France at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Louis Le Masson expressed himself as a draughtsman and painter, as well as an architect and engineer, as shown by the architecture of the abbey palace of Royaumont or the drawings of the Arabesque service for the Sèvres factory; François Masson created the sculptures of the Government palace in Metz and was in charge of the conservation of the sculptures in the Tuileries gardens.

At the installation of the Directoire, Louis Le Masson was then a great clerk of the State, chief engineer of the Ponts et Chaussées in Rouen, while François Masson's career intensified under the Consulate and the Empire. A sculptor in great demand, he counted Napoleon among his clients. Louis Le Masson was ennobled by Louis XVIII, his brother received the Legion of Honour from Napoleon.

The works preserved in the family and in museums, notably at the Château de Versailles, provided the thread for the research in this book, which brings Louis Le Masson and François Masson back to light and gives them the place they deserve in the history of art.