Louis Le Masson et François Masson

There are lives that dominate the upheavals of history. Those of Louis Le Masson, engineer-artist, and his brother François, monumental sculptor and bust maker, are an example: their talents shone despite the tumult of events that shook France at the turn of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Born in the middle of the reign of Louis XV, the two brothers belonged to that prosperous era with a taste for ideas. The two artists learned much from their stays in Italy. The de Broglie family, close to the monarchy, fostered the blossoming of their personalities and talents. The advent of Louis XVI more firmly established their rise. Alongside his engineering activities, Louis Le Masson taught the children of the Count of Artois.

The cataclysms of the Revolution disrupted the fortunes of the two brothers, bound by an indissoluble affection. The royal entourage emigrated, and Le Masson was struck hard by the Terror, which forced him to leave Versailles and shattered his family and professional life. François Masson lived through the entire revolutionary period in Paris, where the situation for artists was precarious.

The establishment of the Directory brought a reversal of fortune. Louis Le Masson began a provincial career as a senior civil servant, chief engineer of bridges and roads in Rouen, which he continued under Bonaparte’s Consulate and during the development of the Empire. François Masson began to receive numerous commissions; his career intensified under the Consulate, which brought him success. The Empire would cement his rise. He would suddenly pass away in the height of his glory. The extraordinary longevity of Louis Le Masson led him to witness the new twists of French politics; the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy brought him back near the court of Louis XVIII. He would pass away shortly before the establishment of the constitutional monarchy of Louis-Philippe.