Bosio, François Joseph, Baron

Bosio, François Joseph, Baron

(fräNswä` zhôzĕf` bärôN` bôsyō`), 1769–1845, French sculptor. He was employed by Napoleon I to make the bas-reliefs for the column of the Place Vendôme and also as portraitist to the imperial family. At that time he produced one of his best portrait busts—that of Empress Josephine (Dijon). Louis XVIII made him court sculptor, and Charles X conferred the title baron on him. Of his larger works the most important are the equestrian statue of Louis XVI (Place de Victoires); the quadriga (four-horse chariot) of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel; and Hercules Struggling with a Serpent (garden of the Tuileries).