Biography

French sculptor during the reign of Louis XIV. He was son of a master carpenter, and was apprenticed to Jacques Sarazin. As a pensioner of the king, he studied in Rome from 1653 to 1659. He was accredited (agréé) at the Royal Academy in 1653, and made 'Académicien' in 1667 with a marble relief of St Magdalene.

Le Hongre intervenes as a sculptor-ornamentalist in the Louvre for the exterior decoration of the Marengo Pavilion and the Colonnade.

He worked extensively at Versailles for the exterior decoration (façades of the Royal Court: Africa, Authority, Wealth) and interior (Queen's room and staircase) of the castle. He also participated in the decoration of the Notre Dame church in Versailles. He especially executed important works for the gardens of the Château de Versailles: The Seine and the Marne, Flower Nymph, Pearl Nymph, L'Air.

He also intervenes at Chateau de Fontainebleau (March, September), Chateau de Chagny (Two Captives), Chateau de Choisy (Magnanimity and Magnificence), Marly Castle (Decorations).

He is the author of the Dissolution of the Triple Alliance and the Take of Duisburg (with Pierre Le Gros the Elder, 1629-1714), monumental bas-reliefs of the Porte Saint-Martin, in Paris.

Le Hongre executed with Antoine Coysevox and Jean Baptiste Tuby the Tomb of the Cardinal de Mazarin (Palace of the Institute). He died before completing this work.