The Centaur and the Faun
A bronze sculpture of a faun fighting with a centauress by Augustin Courtet created in 1849, located in the Parc de la Tête d’Or in his hometown of Lyon, France. Known locally as “La Centauresse et le faune”, the statue depicts a faun looking up into the face of a centauress surrounded by fruits, wine and the weapons of the battle.
Augustin Courtet was born July 29, 1821 in Lyon and died in Paris in 1891. He was a French sculptor and a student of Pradier, Ramey Jr., and Dumont. Courtet won a second category medal at the Paris Salon of 1848 and many of his works decorate public monuments in France.
He is the author of many pieces including a portrait of Albert Desjardins that is kept in the Departmental Museum of the Oise in Beauvais. He created a marble portrait of Luce de Casabiancathat was commissioned and acquired by the French Ministry of Fine Arts in 1873. He is also the author of the statues of Gabriel and Coustou, which were intended for the decoration of the Cour Napoleon of the Louvre made between 1855 and 1857.
The Centauresse and the Faun was originally installed in the garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre in 1849 before being transferred to the Parc de la Tête d’or near the Porte des Enfants du Rhône. The statue was cast by the Parisian founder Édouard Quesnel.
