Biography

French sculptor. His father was a designer of bronzes, silverware and furniture. He began his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1831 as the pupil of David d'Angers and Paul Delaroche. At twenty-two he obtained the second grand Rome premium, at twenty-eight the first prize for a figure of Diomede capturing the Palladium. He exhibited at the Salon in 1842 a Conqueror at the Olympic Games; in 1849 the famous statue of Penelope Asleep, which Duke Luynes bought for the Castle of Dampierre, and obtained the Honour Medal and a pension of 4.000f. At the Salon of 1852 he exhibited a statue of Truth, which was bought for the Luxembourg Gallery, at the Universal Exposition of 1855, a Cornelia, a Bacchante, and a remarkable bust.

Cavelier made the two statues which were placed above the clock of the former Hotel de Ville of Paris, the statue of Francis I which was in the Court of Honour; a group of Fame Rewarding the Arts, which was at the façade of the Apollo Gallery; a statue of St Matthew for the portals of Notre Dame de Paris; the caryatides of the central pavilion in the new Louvre, and statues of Abélard and of Blaise Pascal for the Louvre and the Tour Saint-Jacques.

In 1865, he became Duret's successor as a member of the Institute. He was an Officer of the Legion of Honour since 1861. He had the reputation of being an exemplary teacher, devoted to his pupils.