Sarazin, Jacques

(c. 1588-1660)

   French sculptor who studied under Nicolas Guillain, Simon Guillain's father. From c. 1610 to c. 1627, Sarazin was in Rome completing his training and there he worked for the architect Carlo Maderno. He also came into contact with Domenichino, Francesco Mochi, Pietro Bernini, and François Duquesnoy. From these masters he adopted a classical visual language that was to permeate his works for the rest of his life. Back in France, Sarazin worked on the sculptural program in the Pavillon de l'Horloge at the Louvre Palace in Paris (1641) and directed the decorations of the Château des Maisons, built by François Mansart in 1642-1646 for René de Longueil. His caryatids in the Louvre pavilion represent the earliest instance of classical-idealized sculpture in France. One of Sarazin's most important commissions is the Tomb of Henri de Bourbon (1648-1663), prince of Condé, in the Church of St. Paul-St. Louis in Paris. The execution of the work was interrupted by the Fronde (civil war; 1648-1653) and completed only after the sculptor's death. Unfortunately, it was moved to Chantilly in the 19th century where it is now housed in the local Musée Condé and rearranged so it no longer presents Sarazin's original intentions. His Prudence, part of the monument, features figures reliant on ancient prototypes with restrained movement of figures and drapery folds.

   In 1630-1660, Sarazin also worked on the pendant figures of the penitent Sts. Peter and Mary Magdalen. Commissioned by Magistrate Pierre Séguier for his chapel in the Church of Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes, the two figures are the namesaints of Séguier and his wife, Madeleine Fabri. Peter is shown with hands clasped in a zigzagging pose and troubled expression, at his feet the rooster who crowed after he denied Christ. Mary Magdalen is an elegant, idealized figure with her ointment jar in one hand and a towel in the other used to wipe her tears. Sarazin's works established the standard for French Baroque sculpture for the rest of the century, and particularly at Versailles.