The statuette "Prince Louis Jean Joseph with the dog Nero"

Jean-Baptiste (Carpeaux, 1827-75) is one of the best French sculptors of modern times, the son of a poor Valenciennes bricklayer, studied first at various small drawing schools, and then at Ryud, Duré and David Angersky in Paris. Winner of numerous prizes and awards in the field of sculpture creation. In his direction, he was an extreme realist, alien to any idealization. In 1864, the imperial couple invited Karpo to sculpt a portrait of their son, the Imperial Prince Louis Jean Joseph. In August 1865, Karpo managed to reproduce a full-length sculpture of the nine-year-old prince from plaster, which was publicly shown at the Salon in 1866 (Paris). Later, the sculptor sculpted a smaller copy of the sculpture from bronze, from which he exhibited in the Salons of 1867 and 1868, respectively. Karpo decided to portray the prince as a bourgeois boy with his dog Nero, presented to the imperial couple by the Russian ambassador.