Very Large French Patinated Bronze Bust of Jesus Christ

A very large, life size, French Patinated Bronze Bust of Jesus Christ, Signed J. Clesinger, Rome 1858 & F. Barbedienne Fondeur. 660mm high, 460mm wide and 380mm deep. Jean-Baptiste Clésinger (FRENCH, 1814-1883):- French sculptor and painter (born in Besançon on October 20, 1814, died in Paris on January 5, 1883), son of sculptor Georges Clésinger, Auguste Clésinger studied sculpture, with his father who took him to Rome. Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892) French industrialist. He is mainly known for his bronze art reproduction foundry. Son of a modest Norman farmer, he made a first fortune in wallpapers before associating in 1838 with the mechanic Achille Collas Achille Collas (1795–1859) The bronze also bears the mark "Reduction Mecanique a collas brevete" which translates to english as "Patented Collas Mechanical Reduction" a process invented by Achille Collas (1795–1859) who was a French engineer, inventor, writer and engraver who developed a way of mechanically creating engravings after medallions and other reliefs, and a machine to copy sculptures at a smaller scale, the so-called "réduction méchanique", which popularized small sculptures and has been credited with being almost entirely responsible for "the transformation of the bronze industry".