This young sculptor from Reims, who came from a noble and wealthy Champagne-making background, was awakened and trained in sculpture by admiring and studying the monuments and cathedral of his home town. With his fragile health and independent character, he didn't follow the usual curriculum of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts, Prix de Rome and Villa Médicis, but carried out many monumental commissions throughout his career, which he completed at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, much to Rodin's displeasure...