JOACHIM ACHILLE RAMPON (1805-1883) Antoine-Guillaume... - Lot 76 - Osenat

JOACHIM ACHILLE RAMPON (1805-1883) Antoine-Guillaume Comte de Rampon (Saint-Fortunat-sur-Eyrieux,1759- Paris,1842) Sculpture in white marble H. 113 cm Missing (thumb of the right hand and saber) and restorations (headgear, right sleeve) Related work: -Joachim Rampon, Monument to General Rampon, stone sculpture, inaugurated in 1854, Ardèche, Saint-Fortunat-sur-Eyrieux. Related literature: -Jacqueline Lalouette, Un peuple de statues. The sculpted celebration of great men (France 1801-2018), photographs by Gabriel Bouyé, Paris, 2018, Mare & Martin, pp. 51, 244. Biographies: Antoine Guillaume RAMPON, Major General, Senator and Count of the Empire is here depicted full-length by his son, Joachim Rampon, French politician, deputy of the Ardèche and sculptor in private. Another version of this marble was inaugurated in 1854 in Tournon-sur-Rhône in Ardèche, today moved to Saint-Fortunat, General Rampon's birthplace. Rampon began his career as a grenadier at the age of 24, became famous for his heroism during the Italian campaign under the orders of General Bonaparte and died in 1842 with the rank of lieutenant-general, the title of Peer of France and decorated with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. The image delivered here describes with precision and meticulousness the military success of this man represented in the attitude of command. His dignity and stature are magnified by the great uniform of a general of the Empire, finely inscribed in the marble. In the spandrels of the base are represented the coat of arms of Rampon, "Gules, three pyramids of gold and in the bottom, the redoubt of silver surmounted by a M. gold, in the upper quarter of the Senate. Livery: red, gold, silver and azure". Rampon was ennobled by letters patent dated April 26, 1808. The coat of arms, with its three golden pyramids, echoes Rampon's illustrious deeds during the Egyptian Campaign (1798-1801) symbolized by the fragment of a stele engraved with hieroglyphs placed at his feet. Joachim Rampon successfully captures the firm, dignified and voluntary character of his father and lets the homage he pays to the man who first inscribed the name of Rampon in posterity shine through in his work. This work is a rare testimony to a little-known facet of Joachim Achille Rampon, of whom only one other sculpture is known to this day, the Virgin with Saint Joseph preserved in the church of Saint Etienne de Gilhoc in the Ardèche. Without any element allowing us to be affirmative as to the anteriority or posteriority of our marble compared to the monument of Tournon, its size, its quality and its documentary precision could indicate that it is the first version. It would have been realized in the intimacy, in testimony of filial piety. The monument of Tournon-sur-Rhône pays an official and public tribute to the General of the Empire. Freemasonry : Initiated in his native province at "La Parfaite Union" of Tournon, probably in 1807, General Rampon will be successively affiliated to the lodges "L'Impériale des Francs Chevaliers" (Paris) in 1808, "Saint-Louis des Amis Réunis" (Calais) the same year, "Sainte-Caroline" (Paris) in 1809, "Les Vrais Amis" (Gand) between 1810 and 1813, "La Parfaite Union" (Douai) in 1812, "Saint-Napoléon" (Paris) in 1812 of which he will be venerable, "Saint-Frédérick des Amis Choisis" (Boulogne) also in 1812, and "Le Faisceau" (Toulouse) in 1814. His Masonic commitment will reach its peak under the July Monarchy, between 1833 and 1835, when he will be Grand Conservator of the Grand Orient de France