Agathon Leonard, Belgian, 1841 to 1923, bas relief gilt bronze plaque depicting a portrait of Saint Cecilia. Signed with a casting, A. Leonard, and dated 1888, lower to the center. Framed. Marked with an impressed stamp, Thiebaut Freres Paris Fumiere and Cie Succs, lower left. Presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1889, the work is a portrait of Saint Cecilia, the theme of saints being then very fashionable. The bronze bas relief represents the young woman in half length profile. Born in Belgium in 1841, Agathon Leonard studied at the Academic Schools of Lille and then at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. After settling in the capital where he exhibited at the Salon of 1868, he joined the Society of French Artists and then the National Society of Fine Arts in 1897. Committed to the current of Art Nouveau, he exhibited many pieces, in particular at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. He produced many medallions, statuettes in bronze, porcelain or Sevres biscuit. He sculpts marble, quartz and ivory. The female figure is one of his favorite subjects. Antique European Bronze Plates and Plaques, Bas Relief Portraits, and Collectibles.