GIRARDON, François. - French sculptor, b. at Troyes on 16 March 1628, d. at Paris on 1 Sept. 1715. His earliest works (a Virgin and a Louis XIII in the habit of the Order in S. Spirito) date from about 1645. From 1648 to 1650 he was in Rome with the engraver Ph. Thomassin; but in 1650 he was back in Troyes and in 1651 in Paris.
Works from this period include the statues of St Francis and St Anthony for the church of the Capucins-St-Honoré and some medallions for the Hôtel de la Ville: all these works, like those for the Louvre, were in collaboration with other artists. With N. Le Gendre, under the direction of Le Brun, he worked on the sculptures for the château of Vaux, and in 1666, as head of a group of artists and sculptors, he began to populate the famous park of Versailles with fountains, statues and vases. Among other works may be mentioned the decoration of the Porte St-Denis (1672); the mausoleum of the Princess de Conti (1672-75); the tomb of Richelieu at the Sorbonne (1675-9); the decoration of the former high altar of the church of St John at Troyes (1691); the tomb of Louvois at the Capucins (in collaboration with Desjardin, 1696); as well as the sculptures for the Dôme des Invalides and for the Bâtiments du Roi. He was also superintendent for the decoration of the arsenal at Toulon and executed various equestrian statues, including that in the Place Vendôme (1683-99), which was demolished during the Revolution. For his own tomb he carved a Calvary (1705-1709), now in the church of St Marguerite in the Faubourg St-Antoine in Paris; other religious works are in the Museum of Troyes.
Girardon was perhaps hindered by having to work often in collaboration or under the direction of others, but his work, which could not but be influenced in some way by Bernini, nevertheless stands out as one of the most important expressions of French sculpture of his time.