An exceptional antique French patinated bronze realistic bust of Jesus Christ, 1858, modeled by Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clesinger, French, 1814 to 1883. Signed: J CLESINGER. Rome. 1858 under the left shoulder, F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR verso, and features the Reduction Mecanique seal. Jean Baptiste Clesinger, known as Auguste, was born in Besancon in 1814, son of George Philippe, sculptor and stone mason. A pupil of his fathers, he showed for the first time at the Paris Salon in 1843 with a bust of Viscount Jules de Valdahon. His father had taken him to Rome in 1832 and he worked in Bertel Thorvaldsens studio for a while. Upon his return to Paris he worked with David dAngers maintaining a studio in Rome at the same time. Classic European Bronze Sculpture For Collectors.