RICHIER, Ligier
(b. ca. 1500, Saint-Mihiel, d. 1567, Genève)

Biography

French sculptor, part of a family of sculptors. In 1530, while still resident in Saint-Mihiel, Ligier was granted exemption from taxes and paid for an unspecified task by the provostship of Koeur. In 1533, established at Saint-Nicolas-du-Port, he executed terracotta portraits of the Duc de Lorraine and members of his entourage (all lost). By the end of the year he had returned to Saint-Mihiel. In 1543 he became one of the four syndics of the town, and in 1550 he appears on the list of burghers released from guard duty at the town gates on payment of a fee.

On the occasion of the visit of Charles III, Duc de Lorraine, to Saint-Mihiel in 1559, Ligier collaborated with his son Gérard Richier (1534-before 1603) on the decoration for the city. About 1560 the two artists signed a petition to the Duc to be allowed to practise the reformed religion without hindrance. Later Ligier left Lorraine in a hurry, however, fleeing to avoid religious persecution. He is next recorded in Geneva, but he does not seem to have been active as an artist. The partition of his estate took place in 1567.



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