BOURDIN, Michel

French sculptor. He is best known as a sculptor of tombs and altar decorations although little of his work survives intact.

He was the father of the sculptor Michel Bourdin II (1609-1678), and produced several works in collaboration with his son, like the tomb of Charles de Fresnoy (Oise Departmental Museum, Beauvais), and the tomb of Jacques Douglas (Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris). He created several sculptures for the CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed. Sainte-Croix in Orléans.

He settled in Paris around 1609. He was charged by Louis XIII to execute a new tomb for King Louis XI in the church of Notre-Dame de Cléry (1622). The old tomb, realized by Conrad of Cologne in 1482, was destroyed in 1562 during the wars of religion. The original bronzeGLOSSARYAn alloy of copper (usually about 90 per cent) and tin, often also containing small amounts of other metals such as lead or zinc. Since antiquity it has been the metal most commonly used in cast sculpture because of its strength, durability, and the fact that it is easily workable - both hot and cold - by a variety of processes. It is easier to cast than copper because it has a lower melting-point, and its great tensile strength makes possible the protrusion of unsupported parts - an advantage over marble sculpture. The colour of bronze is affected by the proportion of tin or other metals present, varying from silverish to a rich, coppery red, and its surface beauty can be enhanced when it acquires a patina. sculpture is this time made of stone.

In 1620, he produced two wooden sculptures of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais for the Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais of Paris. He is also the author of a bust of Henry IV, carved around 1610 (Paris, Musée Carnavalet).