MÊNE, Pierre-Jules

French sculptor, the most prolific French animal sculptor of his time. He worked in Paris and was famous for his naturalistic representations of all kind of animals, particularly horses.

The son of a metal turner, he received his earliest teaching on sculpture and foundry work from his father, and he opened his own foundry in the 1850s, creating lost-wax castings of his sculptures in 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.. Although mostly self-taught, Mene was encouraged by sculptor René Compaire, and was also influenced by two painters: Edwin Landseer of England with his expressive sentimentality, as well as Carle Vernet of France, in capturing spirit, grace and compositional beauty in sculptural form.

Mêne produced a number of animal sculptures, mainly of domestic animals including horses, cows and bulls, sheep and goats which were in vogue during the Second Empire. He was one of a school of French animalieres which also included Rosa Bonheur, Paul-Edouard Delabrierre, Pierre Louis Rouillard, Antoine-Louis Barye, his son-in-law Auguste Cain, and François Pompon.

Mêne specialized in small bronze figures. His work was a popular success with the bourgeois class and many editions of each sculpture were made, often to decorate an increasing number of private homes of the period.